Design-Time Data Feed for Software Development Tools
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Solution Overview
Problem
Software developers face delays and increased burden when developing applications that depend on run-time data feeds not yet available, as they must wait for the feed to be developed or employ cumbersome work-arounds to avoid dependencies, leading to potential human errors.
Innovation Solution
A software development tool that supports the use of a design-time data feed, allowing developers to specify and use a representative feed during development, eliminating the dependency on the run-time feed and reducing the need for work-arounds by managing the correlation between the design-time and run-time feeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If developers wait for the run-time data feed to be developed before starting application development, then the application can reference the actual run-time feed, but the development timeline is delayed and productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by introducing a design-time data feed that developers can use immediately during application development, before the actual run-time data feed is available. This allows development work to proceed in advance with a placeholder feed, eliminating the need to wait for the run-time feed while maintaining the ability to reference actual feed data when it becomes available.
2Productivity
If developers use work-arounds to avoid referencing the run-time data feed during development, then development can proceed without delays, but the complexity of managing work-arounds increases and human errors may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a design-time data feed as an intermediary between the developer and the run-time data feed. This intermediary feed allows developers to work with actual feed-like data structures during development without directly referencing the unavailable run-time feed, thereby eliminating complex work-arounds while maintaining development productivity and reducing error risks.
3Productivity
If developers use a design-time data feed during development, then development productivity is improved and work-around complexity is reduced, but additional configuration and correlation management is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating a design-time data feed that replicates the structure and characteristics of the run-time data feed. This copy allows developers to work with realistic data during development without the complexity of managing actual run-time feed correlations, as the design-time feed is a self-contained representation that can be used independently during the development phase.
Data Source
AI summary
A software application development tool supports a specified design-time data feed. A software application developer can interact with the development tool to specify a design-time data feed that is to be used during development of an application in place of a given run-time data feed that is not available for access by the application. For instance, a software application developer may code the application with reference(s) to the unavailable run-time data feed, and the developer may specify to the development tool a design-time data feed for such referenced run-time data feed. The development tool then manages correlation of the specified design-time feed to the run-time feed such that references to the run-time feed in the application under development instead trigger access to the specified design-time feed by the development tool. When deployed in a run-time environment, the software application's references to the run-time feed trigger access to such run-time feed.