Expert' voice: The BabyUML discipline of programming

Abstract

I want increased confidence in my programs. I want my own and other people's programs to be more readable. I want a new discipline of programming that augments my thought processes. Therefore, I create and explore a new discipline of programming in my BabyUML laboratory. I select, simplify and twist UML and other languages to demonstrate how they help bridge the gap between me as a programmer and the objects running in my computer The focus is on the run time objects; their structure, their interaction, and their individual behaviors. I want to be the master of my own softwareLet me start by admitting that my programs are not as clear and readable as I would like. They have too many bugs to foster confidence and I feel I am skating on thin ice when I modify and extend them. The ice breaks and I fall through far too often for my liking.I refuse to accept this state of affairs. Since I cannot easily change my own mental powers, I turn to my tools. Can I improve the concepts and languages I use for thinking about my programs? Can I improve the tools I use to implement them in the first place and modify them in the second? I believe I know how to program algorithms and declare information models and I have very good tools for performing these tasks. My problems stem from the third aspect of programming; that of specifying communication. BabyUML is a new discipline of programming where a Program = Communication + Data Structure + Algorithm.BabyUML will allow me to work on a higher architectural level and to create clear and reviewable programs.I have somewhat whimsically chosen the name BabyUML. The English Baby was the world's first stored program computer while the target for BabyUML is a virtual, stored program object computer that spans one or more hardware computers. UML 1 is a powerful, high level modeling language unifying algorithms, data structures and communication while BabyUML is a programming discipline that builds on selected constructs from UML and other languages. My last comfortable programThe last time my group wrote a program that made me feel comfortable was as long ago as in 1973. The program was memorable because we have never again got a substantial program right the first time.Our software engineering technology had evolved from its primitive beginnings in 1957 to its culmination in the 1973 program. This program had a database specifying the information model and ensuring referential integrity. It had applications written in FORTRAN with structured design and code. The development process was pure waterfall with peer review of every part. We had plenty of time to keep code and documentation synchronized.The very satisfactory result was that three out of four subroutines worked correctly at first test while the remaining fourth only had minor bugs. We did not find any errors during system integration and subsequent usage. Indeed, we would have been very surprised if we had found any errors in the program's life time. A new world with new challengesThe world around us changed dramatically and th...

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