Object - Oriented Inheritance Ofstatecharts

This paper discusses how object-oriented inheritance can be re-interpreted if statecharts are used for modelling the dynamic behaviour of an object. The support of inheritance of statecharts allows the improvement of systems' development by easing the reutilization of parts of already developed successful systems, and by promoting the iterative and continuous models' reenement advocated by the operational approach. Statechart is the formalism used within UML to specify reactive state-based behaviours. This paper covers the use of statecharts within the modelling of embedded systems for industrial control applications, where performance and memory usage are main concerns. Abstract: This paper discusses how object-oriented inheritance can be re-interpreted if statecharts are used for modelling the dynamic behaviour of an object. The support of inheritance of statecharts allows the improvement of systems' development by easing the reutilization of parts of already developed successful systems, and by promoting the iterative and continuous models' reenement advocated by the operational approach. Statechart is the formalism used within UML to specify reactive state-based behaviours. This paper covers the use of statecharts within the modelling of embedded systems for industrial control applications, where performance and memory usage are main concerns.