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Re: C++ integration, again. I found another language besides Eiffel
Franz's CLOS has C++ interfacing as well:
Where is C++ Not Successful?
C++ fails where performance is less critical a factor than rapid
time-to-market, or where market forces are constantly changing the
requirements for functionality.
Nevertheless, it is often appropriate to use C++. Large existing libraries
are written in C++, and more are constantly being written because of the
economics described above: libraries seem to be one place where C++ is
successful.
Best of Both Worlds
One would ideally like to have the best of both worlds: the ability to
exploit the libraries produced by the armies of C++ programmers, and the
ability to rapidly build and deploy highly flexible, evolvable systems.
Fortunately this is indeed a possibility: CLOS works with C++. Where rapid
development or evolvable systems are required, existing C++ libraries can be
wrapped in CLOS to exploit existing, already understood functionality
without sacrificing the application requirement for dynamic, evolvable
behavior.
In fact, many of the CLOS applications on the market do exactly this.
ViewStar Corporation has used Allegro CL to develop workflow automation
software for large corporate customers, in one case leveraging the
deployment time flexibility of CLOS to put company procedures online while
using C++ to handle the device drivers for the various types of hardware
configurations used. Boeing uses the ICAD SystemTM from Concentra Corp. to
design the 777 aircraft in software by simulating the entire airplane design
with the rules and objects in CLOS, but the GUI in C++.
Combining multiple development tools in a single project makes sense when
the innate capabilities of the various tools can be leveraged. In the case
of CLOS and C++, using existing C++ libraries gives you obvious benefits.
Where rapid time-to-market or dynamic modifications are required, meanwhile,
CLOS is simply the best tool for job.
Follow-Ups:
References: