Automated Software Architectural Synthesis using Patterns: A Cooperative Coevolution Approach

In software architecting process, architects use architectural patterns as reusable architectural knowledge for architectural synthesis. However, it has been observed that the resulting architecture does not always conform to the initial architectural patterns employed. Architectural synthesis using architectural patterns is also recognized as a challenging task, especially for novice architects due to lack of experience. In this paper, we propose a cooperative coevolution approach to automate architectural synthesis using architectural patterns. We first analyze several common architectural patterns and the constraints when using them. We then extend existing architectural synthesis with patterns based on the results of this analysis. We also describe the definition process for pattern metrics, which are used for automated architectural synthesis, from pattern constraints. Finally, we map the extended architectural synthesis to a cooperative coevolution model, which can optimize the resulting architectural solutions and avoid the violations to the pattern constraints automatically. Myx architectural pattern is used as an example to illustrate our