Ecma-367.pdf

2nd Edition / June 2006 Eiffel: Analysis, Design and Programming Language ECMA-367 Ecma International Rue du Rhne 114 CH-1204 Geneva T/F: +41 22 849 6000/01 www.ecma-international.org Standard ECMA-367 2nd Edition - June 2006 Eiffel: Analysis, Design and Programming Language Brief history Eiffel was originally designed, as a method of software construction and a notation to support that method, in 1985. The first implementation, from Eiffel Software (then Interactive Software Engineering Inc.), was commercially released in 1986. The principal designer of the first versions of the language was Bertrand Meyer. Other people closely involved with the original definition included Jean-Marc Nerson. The language was originally described in Eiffel Software technical documents that were expanded to yield Meyers book Eiffel: The Language in 1990-1991. The two editions of Object-Oriented Software Construction (1988 and 1997) also served to describe the concepts. (For bibliographical references on the documents cited see 3.6.) As usage of Eiffel grew, other Eiffel implementations appeared, including Eiffel/S and Visual Eiffel from Object Tools, Germany, EiffelStudio and Eiffel Envision from Eiffel Software, and SmartEiffel from LORIA, France. Eiffel today is used throughout the world for industrial applications in banking and finance, defense and aerospace, health care, networking and telecommunications, computer-aided design, game programming, and many other application areas. Eiffel is particularly suited for mission-critical developments in which programmer productivity and product quality are essential. In addition, Eiffel is a popular medium for teaching programming and software engineering in universities. In 2002 Ecma International formed Technical Group 4 (Eiffel) of Technical Committee 39 (Programming and Scripting Languages), known as TC39-TG4. The Eiffel: Analysis, Design and Programming Language Standard provides a precise definition of the language and ensures interoperability between implementations. The first of these benefits is of particular interest to implementors of Eiffel compilers and environments, who can rely on it as the reference on which to base their work; the second, to Eiffel users, for whom the Standard delivers a guarantee of compatibility between the products of different providers and of trust in the future of Eiffel. The starting point for this Standard is material from the original and revised versions of the book Standard Eiffel (latest revision of Eiffel: The Language). The process of preparing the standard relied on automated tools to keep the corresponding elements identical in the Standard and the forthcoming revision of the book. The First Edition was completed in April of 2005 and approved by the General Assembly of ECMA in June of 2005. As a result, authors of major Eiffel compilers and tools have committed to supporting the language as described in the Standard; compilers are quickly progressing towards full compliance. The present Second Edition introduces no major change of substance but clarifies and corrects a number of points arising from the experience of using the First Edition and from the feedback of compiler writers and the user community. It was completed in April, 2006 and submitted both to ECMA and to the International Standards Organization (ISO), which has approved it as the ISO standard 25436. The text of this Second Edition is identical to the text of the ISO standard. To produce this Standard, TC39-TG4 conducted: 18 face-to- face meetings (15 up to the First Edition), most of them over three full days; numerous phone meetings; and extensive technical correspondence (about 1500 email messages by June 2006). The members of the committee have been: Karine Arnout (Axa Rosenberg, Orinda, previously ETH, Zurich); ric Bezault (Axa Rosenberg, Orinda); Paul Cohen (Generic, Stockholm), Dominique Colnet (LORIA, Nancy); Mark Howard (Axa Rosenberg, Orinda); Alexander Kogtenkov (Eiffel Software, Moscow); Bertrand Meyer (Eiffel Software, Santa Barbara, and ETH, Zurich); Christine Mingins (Monash University, Melbourne); Roger Osmond (EMC, Boston); Emmanuel Stapf (Eiffel Software, Santa Barbara); Kim Waldn (Generic, Stockholm). Observers having attended one or more of the meetings include Cyril Adrian (LORIA), Volkan Arslan (ETH), Paul Crismer (Groupe S, Brussels), Jocelyn Fiat (Eiffel Software, France), Randy John (Axa Rosenberg), Ian King (Eiffel Software), Andreas Leitner (ETH), Philippe Ribet (LORIA), Julian Rogers (Eiffel Software), Bernd Schoeller (ETH), David Schwartz (Axa Rosenberg), Zoran Simic (Axa Rosenberg), Raphael Simon (Eiffel Software), Olivier Zendra (LORIA). The committee acknowledges the contributions of many people including David Hollenberg, Marcel Satchell, Richard OKeefe and numerous others listed in the acknowledgments of the book Standard Eiffel. The editor of the standard is Bertrand Meyer. Emmanuel Stapf is the convener of TG4 (succeeding Christin