A data‐directed approach to program construction
Donald D. Cowan, J. Wesley Graham, J. W. Welch, Carlos J. P. de Lucena · Software Practice and Experience · 1980
Abstract The present paper discusses a method of program construction based on the specification of the data types. The input and output data types and the mapping between them are specified at a high level of abstraction and this non‐procedural specification is used to develop a program schema. The data type and mapping specifications are modified to include a concrete representation of the data and these are used to expand the program schema into a program. A graphical representation for data and program specifications is also introduced and it is shown how this can simplify the techniques and be very useful in program construction. The method is illustrated by developing two programs—the line justifier program described by Gries and the bubblesort.