An Explicit Modeling Approach for Wholes in the Object-Oriented Development process

Although the success of the object paradigm is owed to the capability of representing complex entities characteristic of highly structured application domains, current object-development methodologies do not provide the appropriate support for dealing homogeneously with complex units in the analysis, design and implementation phase. Mutually related entities can be modelled either implicitly by a web of mutually referencing objects or explicitly by an object holding part-of references to objects playing the role of parts. The paper explores the latter explicit approach, where complex entities are explicitly recognised, designed and implemented as wholes. Such an approach makes the appropriate conceptual and implementation tools available in the different phases of the object-oriented development process. The relevant steps of a methodology are drafted, with emphasis on the analysis and design phase, where the cognitive and ontological notion of whole suggests the guidelines towards a criterion for inferring and validating wholes from associative knowledge in the domain.