ADAPTIVE SELECTION OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE VERSIONS FOR COMPILATION OF SOFTWARE PROGRAMS

• US 20130174133A1
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Published: 07/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Goetz, Brian, Buckley, Alexander R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,489,184 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/140
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/41 Compilation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/443 Optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/456 Parallelism detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/47 Retargetable compilers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44536 Selecting among different versions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/466 Transaction processing

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide a system that facilitates the development and compilation of a software program. During operation, the system obtains a set of compilation units to be used in the software program and a version order associated with a programming language of the compilation units. Next, for each compilation unit from the set of compilation units, the system uses the version order to select a version of the programming language that is compatible with the compilation unit. The system then uses the version to compile the compilation unit.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating the development and compilation of a software program, comprising:

obtaining a set of compilation units to be used in the software program and a version order associated with a programming language of the compilation units; and

for each compilation unit from the set of compilation units;

using the version order to select a version of the programming language that is compatible with the compilation unit; and

using the selected version to compile the compilation unit.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a version range associated with the programming language; and

further using the version range to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the version range comprises a minimum version number and a maximum version number.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the version order is at least one of an ascending order, a descending order, and a user-specified order.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein using the version order to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit involves:

attempting to compile the compilation unit using a first version number in the version order;

if the compilation units compiles successfully with the first version number, selecting the first version number; and

if the compilation unit does not compile successfully with the first version number, attempting to compile the compilation unit using a second version number following the first version number in the version order.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the second version number is selected if the compilation unit compiles successfully with the second version number.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the second version number is further selected if other compilation units in the set of compilation units also compile successfully with the second version number.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the set of compilation units corresponds to at least one of a package, a module, and a code base for the software program.

9. A system for facilitating the compilation of a software program, comprising:

a software development kit (SDK) configured to enable the creation of a set of compilation units to be used in the software program using a programming language; and

a compilation manager configured to;

obtain a version order associated with the programming language; and

for each compilation unit from the set of compilation units;

use the version order to select a version of the programming language that is compatible with the compilation unit; and

use the selected version to compile the compilation unit.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the compilation manager is further configured to:

obtain a version range associated with the programming language; and

further use the version range to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the version order is at least one of an ascending order, a descending order, and a user-specified order.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein using the version order to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit involves:

attempting to compile the compilation unit using a first version number in the version order;

if the compilation units compiles successfully with the first version number, selecting the first version number; and

if the compilation unit does not compile successfully with the first version number, attempting to compile the compilation unit using a second version number following the first version number in the version order.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second version number is selected if the compilation unit compiles successfully with the second version number.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second version number is further selected if other compilation units in the set of compilation units also compile successfully with the second version number.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the set of compilation units corresponds to at least one of a package, a module, and a code base for the software program.

16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for facilitating the compilation of a software program, comprising:

obtaining a set of compilation units to be used in the software program and a version order associated with a programming language of the compilation units; and

for each compilation unit from the set of compilation units;

using the version order to select a version of the programming language that is compatible with the compilation unit; and

using the selected version to compile the compilation unit.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

obtaining a version range associated with the programming language; and

further using the version range to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the version order is at least one of an ascending order, a descending order, and a user-specified order.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein using the version order to select the version that is compatible with the compilation unit involves:

attempting to compile the compilation unit using a first version number in the version order;

if the compilation units compiles successfully with the first version number, selecting the first version number; and

if the compilation unit does not compile successfully with the first version number, attempting to compile the compilation unit using a second version number following the first version number in the version order.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the second version number is selected if the compilation unit compiles successfully with the second version number.