Modeling variability and integration of architectural patterns

PhD ceremony: Mr. A.W. Kamal, 12.45 uur, Aula Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Modeling variability and integration of architectural patterns

Promotor(s): prof. P. Avgeriou

Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Architectural patterns are documented as solutions to recurring design problems that arise in specific design situations. Software architects use architectural patterns to solve known design problems. Architectural patterns can be modeled in several different forms to address a design problem at hand. Each such form is called a pattern variant. Systematic modeling of architectural patterns is a challenging task mostly because of the inherent pattern variability and because the architectural abstractions of modeling languages do not match pattern elements. Further, architectural patterns are seldom applied in isolation to design software architecture. Often several patterns are integrated to fully address a design problem at hand. However, due to the abstract nature of current pattern relationship approaches and because the integration of any two architectural patterns can take several forms, it is a challenging task for software architects to effectively integrate architectural patterns.

Our research addresses the two aforementioned problems by devising approaches for modeling pattern variability and pattern integration. We attempt to solve the pattern variability modeling problem by categorizing the solution participants of patterns. More precisely, we identify variable participants that lead to specializations within individual pattern variants and discover recurring architectural abstractions within several architectural patterns called architectural primitives. The pattern integration issue is addressed by discovering a set of pattern participants relationships that serve the purpose of effectively integrating architectural patterns. Our findings are validated through examples and controlled experiments which provide evidence that the proposed primitives, pattern variant-specific elements, and relationships support designers in modeling patterns.