Object-Oriented Specification Composition and Refinement Via Category Theoretic Computations

Most of the existing formal object-oriented methods use classes or objects as the basic unit of design, and therefore lack a precise semantics for specifying high-granularity components. The paper presents a framework of categorical models that focus concern on the interactive relationships between objects, and that explicitly support specification composition and refinement at different levels of abstraction and granularity in object-oriented design. A case study of implementing templated design patterns demonstrates the ability of category theoretic computations to mechanize software development.