Object oriented programming for reinforced concrete design

The use of the object oriented programming approach in developing applications for the analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures is discussed. Two object oriented programming languages, Actor and Borland C++ for Windows were used to develop several applications. Actor is a pure object oriented programming language while C++ is a hybrid object oriented programming language. A simple program for computing the flexural capacity of reinforced concrete tee beams was developed in both languages. A second program for the analysis and design of reinforced concrete continuous beams was developed in Actor and C++. This application is representative of a practical structural engineering application and has both analysis and design components. The procedures and techniques used in the development of this application can easily be applied to the development of other structural engineering applications. A third program for the design of simply supported beams was also developed in Actor.

The advantages and disadvantages of object oriented programming for structural engineering application development were studied. It was found that object oriented programming has significant benefits. However, these benefits can only be utilized if careful thought is given during the program development stage. There is also some overhead associated with object oriented programming. A comparative study of the two programming languages: Actor and Borland C++ was also performed.