CONC++ : a constraint extension to the C++ programming language

There is an increasing demand from software developers for powerful toolkits to aid in the development of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Many of the toolkits currently in use provide some type of constraint system. Constraint systems automatically maintain relationships between variables in an application without explicit instructions from the programmer. CONC++ provides a constraint system independent of a GUI toolkit. Specifically, it extends the C++ programming language by allowing a programmer to define and use one-way, domain-independent constraints. This is accomplished by translating declarations of C++ variables into declarations of class instances. These class instances contain the methods required to support the constraint solver. CONC++ is designed to provide as transparent an interface to the constraints as possible. Thus there are very few changes to the syntax of C++ introduced by CONC++, making it very easy to integrate into existing C++ programs, and easy for programmers familiar with C++ to learn. CONC++ provides the opportunity to explore the use of constraints in applications other than GUI development, such as maintenance of tree and graph data structures.