Our goal is to apply the software engineering advantages of object-oriented programming to the raw power of massively parallel architectures. To do this we have constructed a hierarchy of C++ classes to support the data-parallel paradigm. Feasibility studies and initial coding can be supported by any serial machine that has a C++ compiler. Parallel execution requires an extended Cfront, which understands the data-parallel classes and generates C ^* code. (C ^* is a data-parallel superset of ANSI C developed by Thinking Machines Corporation). This approach provides potential portability across parallel architectures and leverages the existing compiler technology for translating data-parallel programs onto both SIMD and MIMD hardware.