Constraints as polymorphic connectors

Abstract

The architecture of interactive systems does not match the procedural decomposition mechanisms available in most programming languages, leading to architectural mismatch. Constraint systems have been used only as black boxes for computing with primitive values of a specific type and for specific domains such as user interface layouts or program compilation. We propose constraints as a general purpose architectural connector for both describing the large-scale structure of interactive systems and matching that description with the actual implementation.