Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Frame technology (software engineering)
open-in-new
<p>Frame technology (FT) is a <a href="/facts/Language-independent_specification/cLfKVJcx">language-neutral</a> (i.e., processes various languages) system that manufactures custom software from reusable, machine-adaptable building blocks, called frames. FT is used to reduce the time, effort, and errors involved in the design, construction, and evolution of large, complex software systems. Fundamental to FT is its ability to stop the proliferation of similar but subtly different components, an issue plaguing software engineering, for which programming language constructs (subroutines, classes, or templates/generics) or add-in techniques such as macros and generators failed to provide a practical, scalable solution. </p><p>A number of implementations of FT exist. Netron Fusion specializes in constructing business software and is proprietary. ART (Adaptive Reuse Technology) is a general-purpose, open-source implementation of FT. Paul G. Bassett invented the first FT in order to automate the repetitive, error-prone editing involved in adapting (generated and hand-written) programs to changing requirements and contexts. </p><p>A substantial literature now exists that explains how FT can facilitate most aspects of software's life-cycle, including domain modeling, requirements gathering, architecture and design, construction, testing, documentation, fine tuning and evolution. Independent comparisons of FT to alternative approaches confirm that the time and resources needed to build and maintain complex systems can be substantially reduced. One reason: FT shields programmers from software's inherent redundancies: FT has reproduced <a href="/facts/Commercial_off-the-shelf/3VxTJYc6">COTS</a> object-libraries from equivalent XVCL frame libraries that are two-thirds smaller and simpler; custom business applications are routinely specified and maintained by <a href="http://www.netron.com">Netron Fusion</a>SPC frames that are 5% – 15% of the size of their assembled source files. </p>