Linkage of Ada components: theme & variations

Abstract

One of the primary purposes of Ada is to encourage the usage of components. Not only are the paradigms of component interconnection important, but also the implementation mechanisms for this interconnection are significant. This paper examines several major mechanisms of component linkage. The evaluation is based upon efficiency, flexibility, implementation difficulty, usability in building systems, and the ability to meet constraints imposed by the Ada language and by the potential underlying KAPSEs.