Debugging and Logging Services for Defence Service Oriented Architectures

While often thought of as a “Dark Art”, debugging is nevertheless a necessary part of fielding quality computing systems which can and should be done systematically. Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) show great promise but also represent one of the most challenging environments in which to debug system services. In addition to all the issues of distributed and paralled debugging, SOAs introduce the complexity of significant parts of one’s programs being provided by others. This paper examines the features of SOAs that complicate debugging and shows how integrated logging is an essential part of finding the cause of service failures. We draw on Agan’s work in developing systematic strategies for debugging to generate system features that are necessary or helpful for debugging in an SOA environment. These are in turn used to specify requirements for a debugging system integrated into the fabric of the SOA. We argue that deep integration is necessary to produce significant debugging efficiency improvement in an SOA environment and provide some recommendations for Defence in this area. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE