Skeleton (computer programming): Difference between revisions

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'''Skeleton programming''' is a style of [[computer programming]] based on simple high-level program structures and so called '''dummy code'''. Program skeletons resemble [[pseudocode]], but allow [[parsing]], [[compiler|compilation]] and testing of the code. Dummy code is inserted in a program skeleton to simulate processing and avoid [[compiler|compilation]] error messages. It may involve empty [[subroutine|function]] declarations, or functions that return a correct result only for a simple test case where the expected response of the code is known.

Skeleton programming facilitates a [[top-down]] design approach, where a partially functional system with complete high-level structures is designed and coded, and this system is then progressively expanded to fulfill the requirements of the project. Program skeletons are also sometimes used for high-level descriptions of [[algorithm]]s. A program skeleton may also be utilized as a template that reflects syntax and structures commonly used in a wide class of problems.

Skeleton programs are utilized in the [[template method design pattern]] used in [[object-oriented programming]]. In [[object-oriented programming]], dummy code corresponds to an [[abstract method]], a [[method stub]] or a [[mock object]]. In the [[Java remote method invocation]] (Java RMI) nomenclature, a [[Stub (computer science)|stub]] communicates on the client-side with a skeleton on the server-side.<ref>{{cite journal

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A '''class skeleton''' is an outline of a [[class (computer science)|class]] that is used in [[software engineering]]. It contains a description of the class's roles, and describes the purposes of the [[Variable (programming)|variables]] and [[method (computer science)|method]]s, but does not implement them. The class is later [[implementation|implemented]] from the skeleton.

==References==

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==See also==

{{Portal|Computer programming}}

* [[Template method pattern]]

==References==

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeleton (Computer Science)}}