Customizing C++ to improve the reusability of class libraries

Abstract

OPTEC is a language extension tool for customizing a strongly typed object-oriented language to improve the usability of specific class libraries. Using OPTEC, a system specific language for non-expert programmers call be built easily by extending C++. The system specific language supports selection of the appropriate private class from the class libraries, simplifies the use of the class, and makes it easy to define a subclass from an abstract class. The language extensions of C++ can be defined by transformation rules. OPTEC uses a tree rewriting method, in which semantic analysis is integrated. We first describe how extension and customization of the C++ language is effective for increasing the reusability of a library. Then, we illustrate the usability of OPTEC by means of extension rule examples, and present an efficient algorithm to apply rules. We also show a software organization of OPTEC and its application result.<>