Object-Oriented and Mixed Programming Paradigms

The area of computer graphics is characterized by rapid evolution. New techniques in hardware and software developments, e. g. , new rendering methods, have led to new ap­ plications and broader acceptance of graphics in fields such as scientific visualization, multi-media applications, computer aided design, and virtual reality systems. The evolving functionality and the growing complexity of graphics algorithms and sys­ tems make it more difficult for the application programmer to take full advantage of these systems. Conventional programming methods are no longer suited to manage the increasing complexity, so new programming paradigms and system architectures are re­ quired. One important step in this direction is the introduction and use of object-oriented methods. Intuition teils us that visible graphical entities are objects, and experience has indeed shown that object-oriented software techniques are quite useful for graphics. The expressiveness of object-oriented languages compared to pure procedurallanguages gives the graphics application programmer much better support when transforming his mental intentions into computer code. Moreover, object-oriented software development is a, weil founded technology, allowing software to be built from reusable and extensible compo­ nents. This book contains selected, reviewed and thoroughly revised vers ions of papers submit­ ted to and presented at the Fourth Eurographies Workshops on Object-Oriented Graphics, held on May 9-11, 1994 in Sintra, Portugal.

The evolving functionality and growing complexity of graphics algorithms and systems make it more difficult for the application programmer to exploit them fully. Conventional programming methods are no longer suited and new programming paradigms and system architectures are required. This book presents results from the Fourth Eurographics Workshop on Object-Oriented Graphics. Part 1, Object-Oriented Design and Systems, shows that object-oriented graphics now uses complex algorithms and systems, such as elaborate renderers, animation, and multimedia systems, that are realized as object-oriented libraries. Part 2, Programming Paradigms for Graphics, reflects upon and analyzes problems arising from relying completely on object orientation, and proposes mixed programming paradigms that may enrich object-oriented languages.