Desert is a new programming environment based that features three types of integration:
Control integration using message passing between the tools. This allows the tools to communicate while they are running, allowing commands to be issued from any tool and allowing the various tools to follow user actions to display relevant information. We currently use both ToolTalk and the FIELD message server.
Editor integration using a common editor for all aspects of software engineering. We use FrameMaker as our editor. This allows us to integrate both textual and graphical software artifacts.
Fragment integration which is a form of data integration that is inexpensive and open. It preserves the original files and creates a database of references into these files. This database identifies logical units of the files (fragments) and allows information to be associated with these units.
The combination of these yields a powerful programming environment that features high-quality editing, good tool interaction, the ability to dynamically jump among logically connected files, and the ability to create and edit virtual files: files that contain fragments relevant to the current task at hand.
For more information, look at the following technical papers:
Simplifying Data Integration: The Design of the Desert Software Development Environment (ICSE18).
Program Editing in a Software Development Environment (Unpublished).
You can also send email to Steve Reiss at spr@cs.brown.edu.
Or go back to the Desert home page.