Style-Based Software Architectural Compositions as Domain-Specific Models

Architectural styles represent composition patterns and constraints at the software architectural level and are targeted at families of systems with shared characteristics. While both style-specific and style-neutral modeling environments for software architectures exist, creation of such environments is expensive and frequently involves reinventing the wheel. This paper describes the rapid design of a style-neutral architectural modeling environment, ViSAC. ViSAC is based on Alfa, a framework for constructing style-based software architectures from architectural primitives, and is obtained by configuring Vanderbilt University’s Generic Modeling Environment (GME). Users can define their own styles in ViSAC and, in turn, use them to design software architectures. Moreover, ViSAC supports the hierarchical design of heterogeneous software architectures, i.e., using multiple styles. The rich user interface of GME and support for domain-specific semantics enable interactive design of well-formed styles and architectures.