Is the object-oriented paradigm appropriate for scientific software?

Abstract

This paper describes an object-based reengineering case study. Multi-configuration Hartree-Fock legacy software written in FORTRAN 77 was reengineered in FORTRAN 90 using the OMT methodology. The resulting object-based product was unsatisfactory; in particular, the object model had far too many interconnections. In addition, there was conflict between information hiding and efficiency issues. Based on the case study, it was concluded that the object-oriented paradigm may not be applicable to algorithm-intensive scientific software.