Architecture Prototyping (TOPOS, SCT)

This project aimed at developing concepts methods and tools for supporting architecture prototyping and is part the TOPOS (Toolset for Prototyping-Oriented Software Development) project family. TOPOS includes tools for both user interface and architecture prototyping. The SCT (System Construction Tool) was implemented using C, C++ (based on the application framework ET++) and Modula-2 and supports browsing, editing, debugging and architecture prototyping of Modula-2 applications. One of its main concepts is its hybrid execution mechanism which enables the seamless integration of compiled, interpretable, and simulable code. This mechanism can not only be used for evolutionary software development but is also the basis for an architecture simulator, which is used for the prototyping of module-based software architectures. The browsing capabilities of the SCT were the basis for the development of the C++ development environment SNiFF+. The first version of SNiFF+ was developed by the leader of the SCT project (Walter Bischofberger) at the UBILAB in Zürich, Switzerland.