Nour Ali

Designing software architectures with an aspect-oriented architecture description language

A great deal of languages have emerged and have demonstrated the advantages that Aspect-Oriented Programming offers. For this reason, the aspect-oriented approach is being introduced into the early phases (analysis and design) of the software life cycle. In this work, we present an Aspect-Oriented Architecture Description Language (AOADL) to specify software architectures of complex, dynamic and distributed software systems. This AOADL follows the PRISMA approach, which integrates the advantages of Component-Based Software Development (CBSD) and Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD). The PRISMA AOADL combines components and aspects in an elegant and novel way achieving a better management of crosscutting-concerns. In addition, it is independent of the technology, and it has great expressive power in order to facilitate the automatic code generation from its specifications. In this work, we demonstrate how PRISMA AOADL improves the management, maintainability and reusability of software architectures introducing the notion of aspect in its ADL.

Dynamic evolution in aspect-oriented architectural models

This paper presents a solution to the evolution problem of software architectures. This solution is provided by PRISMA. PRISMA is an architecture modeling approach that integrates the advantages of Component-Based Software Development (CBSD) and Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD). This integration is reflected in its model and in its Architecture Description Language (ADL). In this paper, PRISMA is presented as a framework to evolve aspect-oriented and component-based architectures by requirements-driven evolution. The evolution is supported by means of a meta-level and the reflexive properties of PRISMA ADL which have been implemented as a middleware. In addition, it is demonstrated how the evolution services of the PRISMA meta-level permit the run-time evolution of software architectures using an industrial case study, the TeachMover Robot.

Integrating aspects in software architectures: PRISMA applied to robotic tele-operated systems

Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) has emerged as a new approach to develop software systems by improving their structure, reuse, maintenance and evolution properties. It is being applied to all stages of the software life cycle. In this paper, we present the PRISMA approach, which introduces AOSD in software architectures. PRISMA is characterized by integrating aspects as first-order citizens of software architectures. This paper shows how the PRISMA methodology is applied to develop a case study of the tele-operation system domain. We illustrate how the PRISMA approach can improve the development and maintenance processes of these kinds of industrial systems.

Distributed Requirements Elicitation Using a Spatial Hypertext Wiki

In Global Software Development (GSD), distributed stakeholders (e.g. team members, customers, etc) have to collaborate and communicate in an efficient and effective way to share, create and discuss knowledge. Nowadays, a challenge is to provide integrated collaborative tools that implement creativity techniques which allow distributed stakeholders to externalize their knowledge through brainstorming and share and store knowledge in a common repository. The Requirements Elicitation (RE) process is a clear example where this kind of support is needed in the software development process. This paper presents the Spatial Hypertext Wiki as a collaborative tool for supporting creativity in the RE process. The Spatial Hypertext characteristics of the wiki provide a virtual board where distributed stakeholders can share, brainstorm, negotiate, or prioritize the knowledge involved in RE.

Crafting a Global Teaming Model for Architectural Knowledge

In this paper, we present the Global Teaming Model (GTM), which is empirically grounded, and outlines practices that managers need to consider when managing virtual teams. We explain how the model can be adapted to specific areas of software development, and use architectural knowledge management (AKM) as our exemplar. We focus on specific practices relating to how teams collaborate and share essential architectural knowledge across multiple sites. Through a review of the literature, we develop an in-depth view of recommended practices associated with AKM in a global environment. We then consider how we can incorporate these AKM practices into our Global Teaming model to ensure managers are given the necessary support. Our contribution to research therefore is to present AKM practices within the context of all other Global Software Development processes.

Architectural Knowledge Management in Global Software Development: A Review

Architectural Knowledge Management (AKM) aims to coordinate the knowledge produced and used during architecting a software system. Managing architectural knowledge effectively is a task that becomes even more critical and complex when operating in a distributed environment. Thus, software architectural practices, processes, and tools that work in collocated software development don’t necessarily scale up in a distributed environment. In this paper, we perform a literature review that looks at AKM in a Global Software Development (GSD) context. We attempt to synthesize AKM concepts, practices, tools and challenges important in GSD. In order to provide a common understanding for the central concepts of AKM in GSD in an abstract way, we have created a metamodel which is based on our literature review. The metamodel defines a set of architecture knowledge and global software development entities and their relationships.

ShyWiki-A spatial hypertext wiki

This paper presents ShyWiki, a Spatial Hypertext Wiki. ShyWiki has the flexibility and advantages of spatial hypertext. ShyWiki hypertext documents are composed of notes and maps that can be arranged by users. Users can change the spatial attributes of the elements in a hypertext document such as their position, order, color, size, etc. Furthermore, users can move, delete or aggregate notes as well as maps. ShyWiki allows users to perform a collaborative spatial hypertext design due to the fact that the community of users decide the final structure of a wiki page.

Ambient-PRISMA: Ambients in mobile aspect-oriented software architecture

This work presents an approach called Ambient-PRISMA for modelling and developing distributed and mobile applications. Ambient-PRISMA enriches an aspect-oriented software architectural approach called PRISMA with the ambient concept from Ambient Calculus. Ambients are introduced in PRISMA as specialized kinds of connectors that offer mobility services to architectural elements (components and connectors) and are able to coordinate a boundary, which models the notion of location. Mobility of architectural elements is supported by reconfiguring the software architecture. This paper presents a metamodel that introduces ambients to design aspect-oriented software architectural models for mobile systems. The design of models is performed using an Aspect-Oriented Architecture Description Language. A middleware called Ambient-PRISMANET which maps the metamodel to .NET technology and supports the distributed runtime environment needed for executing mobile applications is also presented. In addition, a CASE Tool which allows users to specify the aspect-oriented architectural models in a graphical way and generate .NET code is provided. In this way, we explain how Ambient-PRISMA follows Model Driven Engineering. An example of an auction system is used throughout the article to illustrate the work.

Characterizing real-time reflexion-based architecture recovery: an in-vivo multi-case study

Architecting software systems is an integral part of the software development lifecycle. However, often the implementation of the resultant software ends up diverging from the designed architecture due to factors such as time pressures on the development team during implementation/evolution, or the lack of architectural awareness on the part of (possibly new) programmers. In such circumstances, the quality requirements addressed by the as-designed architecture are likely to be unaddressed by the as-implemented system. This paper reports on in-vivo case studies of the ACTool, a tool which supports real-time Reflexion Modeling for architecture recovery and on-going consistency. It describes our experience conducting architectural recovery sessions on three deployed, commercial software systems in two companies with the tool, as a first step towards ongoing architecture consistency in these systems. Our findings provide the first in-depth characterization of real-time Reflexion-based architectural recovery in practice, highlighting the architectural recovery agendas at play, the modeling approaches employed, the mapping approaches employed and characterizing the inconsistencies encountered. Our findings also discuss the usefulness of the ACTool for these companies.

Model driven support for the Service Oriented Architecture modeling language

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an architectural style that is widely used in distributed and dynamic systems. The Service oriented architecture Modeling Language (SoaML) is an OMG standard for modelling SOA independent of a technology. This paper presents a tool for modelling SOA using SoaML and generating OSGi Declarative Services Models from SoaML models. SoaML metamodel has been implemented as an Ecore model using the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). An Eclipse plug-in that allows architects to graphically design SoaML models has been developed using the Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF). We have also implemented a model transformation using ATLAS Transformation Language (ATL) in order to partially generate Declarative Services models. The generated model is used as a Declarative Services Component Description XML specification which is needed to execute code on the OSGi service oriented platform. In this way, we provide SoaML with Model Driven Architecture support.