The present book is based on the conference Software Development and Reality Construction held at SchloB Eringerfeld in Germany, September 25 - 30, 1988. This was organized by the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) in cooperation with the German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD), Sankt Augustin, and sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation whose financial support we gratefully acknowledge. The conference was an interdisciplinary scientific and cultural event aimed at promoting discussion on the nature of computer science as a scientific discipline and on the theoretical foundations and systemic practice required for human-oriented system design. In keeping with the conversational style of the conference, the book comprises a series of individual contributions, arranged so as to form a coherent whole. Some authors reflect on their practice in computer science and system design. Others start from approaches developed in the humanities and the social sciences for understanding human learning and creativity, individual and cooperative work, and the interrelation between technology and organizations. Thus, each contribution makes its specific point and can be read on its own merit. But, at the same time, it takes its place as a chapter in the book, along with all the other contributions, to give what seemed to us a meaningful overall line of argumentation. This required careful editorial coordination, and we are grateful to all the authors for bearing with us throughout the slow genesis of the book and for complying with our requests for extensive revision of some of the manuscripts.

Prototyping is an approach used in evolutionary system development. In this book, the authors show which forms of prototyping can be employed to tackle which problems. They take a look at the tools used in everyday software development with a view to determining their suitability for prototyping, and attempt to elucidate prototyping as a methodological concept. Part I of the book looks at prototyping as an approach for constructing and evaluating models. Traditional approaches and phase-oriented life cycle plans are discussed. Prototyping overcomes fundamental problems associated with life cycle plans. The authors present their own concept of evolutionary system development. Part II shows to what extent technical support of evolutionary system development is possible. Various tools for supporting prototyping are discussed and prospective trends are indicated. Criteria are listed to help the reader choose between the various development environments currently available or likely to become available in the near future. Case studies are used to illustrate how prototype construction can be integrated in software projects.

Auf der Basis einer praxisnahen Darstellung der Grundkonzepte objektorientierter Modellierung wird erlautert, dass fur eine tragfahige Anwendungsentwicklung in der Zukunft eine neue Sichtweise notwendig ist. Der objektorientierte Entwicklungsprozess wird in seinen fachlichen und technischen Dimensionen ausgeleuchtet. Ein verstandliches Leitbild fur die Systementwicklung, die Metapher von Werkzeugen und Materialien, wird vorgestellt. Objektorientierung beeinflusst aber nicht nur die Programmierung und die Projektstrategie, sie hat auch Auswirkungen auf die Entwicklerorganisation. Diese Uberlegungen werden durch Einschatzungen uber die kurz- und langfristige Wirtschaftlichkeit einer objektorientierten Vorgehensweise erganzt. In einem eigenen Kapitel werden detaillierte Vorschlage fur eine an den Bedurfnissen der kommerziellen Datenverarbeitung ausgerichtete Einfuhrungsstrategie vorgestellt."