| Several object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) methods have been developed in recent years. Although they are more similar to each other than they are to other types of software development methods such as structured analysis and design, the OOAD methods still differ from each other in many aspects. Our interest is in studying the modeling techniques of the OOAD methods and understanding their similarities and differences. This dissertation addresses the problem of systematically comparing the representational properties of the OOAD methods.;The dissertation presents a formal approach to specifying design theories for OOADs' representational properties, and presents a systematic mechanism for determining the similarities and differences between different design theories. Specifically, it describes (1) the formalization of the representational properties under the Theory-Model paradigm, and (2) the development of the formal core theory among the variety of the design theories and the extensions of these theories to the core. The formalization can lead to a rigorous comparison, which provides a deeper insight into the OOAD methods.;We illustrate the approach by applying it to the object model of OMT (RBP... |
