Component Composition with Parametric Contracts
Ralf Reussner, Steffen Becker · 2004
We discuss compositionality in terms of (a) component interoperability and contractual use of components, (b) component adaptation and (c) prediction of properties of composite components. In particular, we present parametric component contracts as a framework treating the above mentioned facets of compositionality in a unified way. Parametric contracts compute component interfaces in dependency of context properties, such as available external services or the profile how the component will be used by its clients. Under well-specified conditions, parametric contracts yield interfaces offering interoperability to the component context (as they are component-specifically generated). Therefore, parametric contracts can be considered as adaptation mechanism, adapting a components providesor requires-interface depending on connected components. If non-functional properties are specified in a component provides interface, parametric contracts compute these nonfunctional properties in dependency of the environment.