Tahar Khammaci

An explicit definition of connectors for component-based software architecture

Architecture description languages (ADL) describe systems as a collection of components that interact with each other using connectors. They define components explicitly, however they leave the definition of interactions implicit. Interactions are defined through include files and import and export statements (the connectors are buried inside the components). This implicitly of describing interactions (connectors) makes it difficult to build heterogeneous component-based systems that provide complex functionalities and enroll in complex relations. In this article we present an approach to model and to describe the architecture of component-based systems. It defines connectors as first-class entities. Using this approach one can evolve and reuse not only components but also connectors. We also present some operational mechanisms to permit connectors to be redefined and reused effectively.

MADL: Meta Architecture Description Language

As the concept of meta-classes was introduced in order to permit the manipulation of classes, we introduce the concept of meta-components, meta-connectors, and meta-architectures to permit the manipulation and the redefinition of architectural elements (structural and behavioral). In this article we present a meta-meta-architecture called MADL (Meta Architecture Description Language) to abstract the notions of architectures (components, connectors, architectures), hence to facilitate their manipulation, reuse, and evolution; and also to ease (hence encourage) the transformation and comparison among ADLs.

A new approach for component's port modeling in software architecture

The components interaction points with the external world play a fundamental role in the specification of an applications architecture. Current software architecture approaches consider an interaction point as an atomic element in the specification of interconnections, despite the complexity of its structure and the attached behavior. It is not possible in current component models to deal separately with an element of an interaction point when such an element is needed alone for specifying a specific logic. To support such logic and the specification of a wide range of early ideas in the process of elaborating a software system, the Integrated Approach to Software Architecture (IASA) uses an interaction point model which provides facilities to manipulate any structural or behavioral element defining an interaction point. In addition, such facilities represent the fundamental foundation of the native support by IASA of Aspect Oriented Software Architectures (AOSA) specifications.

Towards an Approach for Building Reliable Architectures

Composing an application out of independent, reusable pieces has been a key challenge since the early days of software engineering. In this paper we examine some aspects of software architecture. We introduce our COSA+ model built in order to provide some enhancement in the COSA one. Our main contributions are the new structure given to an explicit connector, and the conceptual view of the different abstract levels used to define the applications architectures. Profits expected from these improvements are numerous; mainly we can quote the reduction of the production costs and the time to market, simplify the maintenance operations, and foresee supports for the evolution of the software architecture.

MY ARCHITECTURE: A KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION META-MODEL FOR SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE

In this article we show how knowledge representation techniques can be applied to software architecture. We define a representation model for software architecture concepts. The model is based on MY model (meta modeling in Y), which is a knowledge engineering methodology. It represents software architecture concepts using three branches: component, connector, and architecture. The component branch represents concepts that are related to computations, the connector branch represents concepts that are related to interactions, and the architecture branch represents concepts that are related to the structure and the topology of the system described. We think that such a representation of architecture concepts aids in improving reusability not only at the implementation level, but also at the description level. The model assigns a hierarchical library for the four software architecture conceptual levels (meta-meta architecture level, meta architecture level, architecture level, application level).

Mapping ADLs into UML 2.0 Using a Meta ADL

In this paper we contribute to the issue of integrating architectural description notations into OMG based modeling techniques using a meta ADL.. The outcome of this work is a meta ADL that helps in approaching issues such as mapping, comparing, and unifying ADLs.