Lessons learned from the OS/400 OO project

ABSTRACT

This article describes some of the lessons learned when a team of 150 developers with a minimal prior exposure to object-oriented (OO) technology undertook a large development project. Team members became proficient in OO design, using C++ as an OO language rather than just using C++ as a better C, and developed IBM's RISC version of the AS/400 and System/36 operating systems from 1992 to 1994 in Rochester, Minnesota. The project contains 14,000 thousand classes, 90,000 thousand methods, and 2 million lines of C++ integrated into 20 million lines of total code. The result of their efforts was the development of a product that is being used daily by a substantial international customer base.

REFERENCES

• 1: Kenneth Baclawski , Bipin Indurkhya, The notion of inheritance in object-oriented programming, Communications of the ACM, v.37 n.9, p.118-119, Sept. 1994 [doi>10.1145/182987.184080]
• 2: Cline, M. and Lea, D. The behavior of C++ classes. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Object-Oriented Programming Emphasizing Practical Applications, 1990, 81-91.
• 3: Marshall P. Cline , Mike Girou , Greg Lomow, C++ FAQs, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1998
• 4: John Davis , Tom Morgan, Object-Oriented Development at Brooklyn Union Gas, IEEE Software, v.10 n.1, p.67-74, January 1993 [doi>10.1109/52.207230]
• 5: Fayad, M.E. and Fulghum, M. Object-Oriented Experiences. SIGS Books, NY, 1996.
• 6: Mohamed E. Fayad , Wei-Tek Tsai , Milton L. Fulghum, Transition to object-oriented software development, Communications of the ACM, v.39 n.2, p.108-121, Feb. 1996 [doi>10.1145/230798.230811]
• 7: IBM Application System/400 Technology, SA21-9540-0.
• 8: IBM System/38 Technical Developments, G580-00237-1.
• 9: Lea, D. and Cline, M. Using annotated C++. In Proceedings of the C++ At Work Conference, 1990, 65-72.
• 10: Love, T. Object Lessons. SIGS Books, NY, 1993.
• 11: Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ programming language (2nd ed.), Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1991

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.5 COMPUTER SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
      C.5.2 Minicomputers**

          Nouns: IBM AS/400

  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: C++

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Training
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software development

General Terms:
Design, Languages, Management, Performance