CAREER: Architecture-Based Support for Software Application Families

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Proposal Number: CCR-9985441 Title: CAREER: Architecture-Based Support for Software Application Families Principal Investigator: Nenad Medvidovic, USC ABSTRACT ---------------- Software architecture research has yielded numerous techniques for developing complex applications by focusing on the composition of coarse-grain software components. However, existing architecture-based approaches have typically modeled systems as "one of a kind;" additionally, they have failed to ensure consistent transfer of architectural properties to a system's implementation. Realizing the full potential of software architectures requires a more realistic approach, in which systems are modeled and implemented as members of an application family. This project focuses on the design, implementation, and empirical evaluation of techniques for supporting architecture-based development of software application families. Three general issues are studied: (1) notations for modeling application family architectures; (2) mechanisms for refining family architectures into their implementations; and (3) nature of software connectors--services facilitating component interactions--and their role in controlling non-functional properties (e.g., performance, security) across applications in a family. This research will augment the current model-centric focus on architectures with a system-centric perspective and provide principled support for heterogeneity and reuse, two cornerstones of developing application families. The research will also serve as a vehicle for modernizing the software engineering curriculum, by exposing students to the impact of architecture-based and application family-based development on fundamental software engineering principles