Software system design based on patterns for Newton-type methods

A wide range of engineering applications use optimization techniques as part of their solution process. The researcher uses specialized software that implements well-known optimization techniques to solve his problem. However, when it comes to develop original optimization techniques that fit a particular problem the researcher has no option but to implement his own new method from scratch. This leads to large development times and error prone code that, in general, will not be reused for any other application. In this work, we present a novel methodology that simplifies, speeds up and improves the development process of scientific software. This methodology guides us on the identification of design patterns. The application of this methodology generates reusable, flexible and high quality scientific software. Furthermore, the produced software becomes a documented tool to transfer the knowledge on the development process of scientific software. We apply this methodology for the design of an optimization framework implementing Newton’s type methods which can be used as a fast prototyping tool of new optimization techniques based on Newton’s type methods. The abstraction, re-useability and flexibility of the developed framework is measured by means of Martin’s metric. The results indicate that the developed software is highly reusable.