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From: jls@netcom.COM (Jim Showalter)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Pictorial Case Tools
Message-ID: <1991May30.001230.22962@netcom.COM>
Date: 30 May 91 00:12:30 GMT
References: <1991May23.185623.24457@agate.berkeley.edu> <19874@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <1991May24.202600.14452@netcom.COM> <1991May25.080657.3447@weyrich.UUCP> <1991May29.123727.23393@praxis.co.uk>
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I agree wholeheartedly with the points made in your post with one exception:
I think it is fairly straightforward to diagram the STATIC structure of
software. By static, I mean what in Ada is called the "with" dependency
closure: the visibility that each unit has to all others. It is even easier
to diagram the export/import interface relationships between software
subsystems at the architectural level. These diagrams, particularly the
latter, are quite useful. Unfortunately, they don't represent the dynamic
behavior of the software at all--and the dynamic behavior is typically
orders of magnitude more complex than the static structure.
-- 
**************** JIM SHOWALTER, jls@netcom.com, (408) 243-0630 ****************
*Proven solutions to software problems. Consulting and training on all aspects*
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*reuse. Quality/productivity. Risk reduction. EFFECTIVE OO usage. Ada/C++.    *