Implementation of a language translator for the computer aided prototyping system

Abstract

Rapid prototyping is a method of software system development that is gaining much support presently. Rapid prototyping allows the designer to quickly produce a model of a system or part of a system which the user can see and thus verify if his requirements have been met. The prototype specifications can then be efficiently converted to an accurate set of program specifications that the programmers can implement as a final working system. The computer aided prototyping system (CAPS) is a rapid prototyping system that will automate many of the processes of prototyping such as code generation of prototype modules and searching for reusable components. One of the many components of CAPS is a language translator which translates a prototype specification written in the Prototype System Description Language (PSDL) into a set of Ada procedures and packages. The Ada procedures and packages, when executed in proper order, will effectively execute the prototype. This thesis demonstrates an implementation of the translator component of the CAPS. An attribute grammar tool, Kodiyak, is used to build a translator which implements the major constructs of PSDL and produces Ada code to implement PSDL operators according to their control constraints.