Ease of translation of object-oriented design into language constructs

Abstract

The object-oriented paradigm represents a significant shift in approach to the development of complex software systems. Most object-oriented languages claim that their language constructs facilitate and enforce the translation of object-oriented principles and design aspects. This project seeks to study Java as an object-oriented language to assess this claim. In particular, this report will study the extent of object-oriented concept enforcement by Java in the area of communication software. The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) communication protocol shall be used as the basis for study. The methodology chosen for the application of the object-oriented approach is the Scenario Event State Action Method (SESAME). This method identifies objects based on events that occur in the system. The SESAME method features comprehensive Analysis, Specification and Design activities. Four Models shall be built to fulfill the analysis, specification and the design deliverables of this methodology on the TFTP before the actual implementation. Extracts of the source code shall be used for the evaluation of the Java language. The concepts covered are those which are essential for a communication software system. These include object-oriented fundamental properties of encapsulation, abstraction, inheritance and polymorphism. Secondary object-oriented features such as concurrency and access control are also discussed. Other properties such as interface and exception handling which are well handled by Java are also discussed to provide a more complete coverage on assessing Java as a communication software programming language.