Approaching Integration in Software Environments

Persistent programming systems are generally recognised as the appropriate technology for the construction and maintenance of large, long-lived object based application systems. Many successful prototypes have been constructed, and a large body of application building experience is emerging. An essential attribute of persistent systems is the referential integrity of data. That is, once a link (reference) to an object is established, it persists over time. As a consequence no object can be deleted while another refers to it. Here some of the advantages of providing all the support required for the software process within a persistent object store with referential integrity are examined. It is shown how having system specifications, programs, configuration management tools and documentation all within a single persistent environment leads to powerful new techniques. This new power is achieved by sharing persistent data across the hitherto enclosed boundaries of system components.