Interactive software development system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of manipulating the computer program during development comprises the further step of debugging the computer program during development of the computer program, the debugging step characterized by being performed free of the necessity for terminating and restarting the program during debugging.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of manipulating the computer program further comprises the step of utilizing a jump instruction as the first instruction of the runtime code objects to effect image updating.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of manipulating the computer program further comprises the step of debugging the computer program, the debugging step being conducted free of the need for interpretation, batch re-compilation, re-linking, re-loading, or the re-creation of error states.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of manipulating the computer program further comprises the step of debugging the computer program, the debugging step being conducted free of an interpretation step, a batch re-compilation step, a re-linking step, a re-loading step, and the step of re-creating error states.

Claim 7

The method of claim 3 comprising the further step of implementing the persistent symbol table as an object-oriented database.

Claim 10

The method of claim 7 comprising the further step of storing at least one of code object and intermediate language symbol containing a description of a code object which refers to the function in a persistent symbol table.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of storing data structures including at least one of program units and program objects in the persistent symbol table.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8 wherein the manipulation step is performed for debugging the computer program as it is being developed, the method comprising the further steps of: translating at least one of an expression and a statement into a code object; updating the existing machine-executable object code with a corresponding runtime code object; and executing the runtime code object for the purpose, during debugging of the existing machine-executable object code, of at least one of an interactive expression evaluation and a statement execution.

Claim 13

The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of manipulating the computer program during development of the computer program, the method being free of the necessity for terminating and restarting the computer program during manipulation.

Claim 14

The method of claim 11 wherein the step of manipulating the computer program further comprises the step of utilizing a jump instruction as the first instruction of the runtime code objects to effect image updating.

Claim 15

An interactive computer program development system that enables real-time debugging of a computer program as it is compiled without the need for batch recompilation, re-linking, re-loading or the need for the developer to re-create error states, said system comprising: a computer system having a given set of source code files, and having first and second internal processes; a debugger resident in said computer system for debugging said given set of source code files; an incremental builder resident in said computer system which when invoked translates said source code files into code objects and their corresponding intermediate language (IL) symbols, said incremental builder being associated with said first internal process for forming said code objects and program units into a built program which is executable; a persistent symbol table resident in said computer system for storing said code objects and IL symbols; an incremental imager resident in said computer system that utilizes said code objects and IL symbols to form runtime code objects, said incremental imager being associated with said first internal process for combining together said runtime code objects to form a program image which is executable, said incremental imager introducing a branch instruction at the beginning of each of said runtime code objects; a runner resident in said computer system that executes said built program in said second internal process, said runner finalizing said program image and executing said program image in said second internal process; and a probe module resident in said computer system and in said first internal process for coordinating actions of said incremental imager and said runner; whereby said program image defining said program, utilizing shared memory data, is simultaneously executed and incrementally manipulated to reflect changes in said source code defining said program.

Claim 16

An interactive computer program development system that enables real-time debugging of a computer program as it is compiled without the need for batch recompilation, re-linking, re-loading or the need for the developer to re-create error states, said system comprising: a computer system having a given set of source code files, and having first and second internal processes; a debugger resident in said computer system for debugging said given set of source code files; an incremental builder resident in said computer system which when invoked translates said source code files into code objects and their corresponding intermediate language (IL) symbols, said incremental builder being associated with said first internal process for forming said code objects and program units into a built program which is executable; a persistent symbol table resident in said computer system for storing said code objects and IL symbols; an incremental imager resident in said computer system that utilizes said code objects and IL symbols to form runtime code objects, said incremental imager being associated with said first internal process for combining together said runtime code objects to form a program image which is executable, said incremental imager introducing a branch instruction at the beginning of each of said runtime code objects; a runner resident in said computer system that executes said built program in said second internal process, said runner finalizing said program image and executing said program image in said second internal process; and a probe module resident in said computer system and in said first internal process for coordinating actions of said incremental imager and said runner; whereby said program image defining said program, utilizing shared memory data, is simultaneously executed and incrementally manipulated to reflect changes in said source code defining said program.

Claim 17

An interactive computer program development system as in claim 13 wherein said code objects and said IL symbols replace object code files, and said runtime code objects replace executable files.

Claim 18

An interactive computer program development system as in claim 14 wherein said runner operates in conjunction with said imager to perform a loading function.

Claim 19

An interactive computer program development system as in claim 13, wherein the same internal data structures are used to produce executable files as are used for incremental imaging.

Claim 20

An interactive computer program development system as in claim 16 furthers including an extractor for producing an executable file from said code objects and intermediate language symbols whereby the need for returning to the source files is eliminated.