AbstractModelling the dynamic aspects of an object-oriented design is important in order to gain concrete insight into the ways objects interact and relate to each other. It may be possible to obtain a similar insight from a static model, but at a more abstract level and in a more indirect way. Dynamic models are usually presented as graph-based diagrams in which the vertices are objects and the edges are messages or relations among objects. In this paper we study such diagrams as the basis for tools in a dynamic modelling environment. We are especially interested in different ways to present time in such tools. One particular approach is to present `time by time'. This leads to animation of dynamic models. By introducing the idea of `design by animation' we aim at a radical improvement of the presentation and manipulation of dynamic models in contemporary CASE tools.
Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.2.2 [Software Engineering]: Tools and Techniques; D.2.6 [Software Engineering]: Programming Environments; D.1.5 [Programming Techniques]: Object-oriented Programming
Additional Key Words and Phrases: object-oriented design, dynamic modelling, object graphs, interaction diagrams, design by animation
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