The authors introduce a notation called the object-oriented structured design (OOSD). One of its basic design ideas derives from the “class hierarchy and inheritance principles from object-oriented programming” used in Smalltalk80, C++, Ada, and Modula-2.

The authors “wanted to create a standard design notation that could represent any software design, independent of the design approach.” The idea of the object-oriented structured design notation as analogous to schematics and block diagrams for electrical engineering is relatively new. This paper is suitable as a tutorial or a research report for practitioners and theorists of standard design notations in software engineering and software development environments.

A brief introduction precedes discussions of architectural design approaches, OOSD notation, and classes. The paper then covers asynchronous processes and design methods and rules; gives an example; and discusses moving beyond architectural design. It ends with a section on automated support for OOSD. A chart of OOSD formal grammar brought me fond memories of my graduate days when I first encountered Backus-Naur form--as a compiler design tool. The OOSD notation could be used in the schematics of compiler design.

The paper’s best feature is the box that explains concepts and terminology for readers who are new to the OOSD notation. Its worst feature is that the chart of OOSD symbols appears in the middle of the paper. It should have been placed closer to the beginning. As compared to industry-standard icons of object-oriented notations, some OOSD symbols are too abstract for practical use. They need to be redesigned so that readers can quickly recognize them. The references include discussions of systems design with Ada--a language that offers potential commercial applications in software engineering and development environments.

The paper is very good at presenting to its intended audience a new perspective on standard design notations. It invites discussions on theoretical and practical approaches to further research.