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This paper examines the premise that object-oriented technology (OOT) is the most significant technology ever examined by the Software Engineering Laboratory. The evolution of the use of OOT in the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) 'Experience Factory' is described in terms of the SEL's original expectations, focusing on how successive generations of projects have used OOT. General conclusions are drawn on how the usage of the technology has evolved in this environment.

A parameterized software system is one that can be configured by selecting generalized models and providing specific parameter values to fit those models into a general design [Stark 1990]. This is in contrast to the top-down development approach where a system is designed first, and software is reused only when it fits into the design. The concept of parameterized software is particularly useful in a development environment such as the Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics Division (FDD), where successive systems have similar characteristics.