Towards a Domain-specific Language for Developing Concurrent Applications using BIP Framework

Abstract

Concurrent systems play a crucial role in modern software development, enabling applications to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and improve performance by utilizing the full potential of modern hardware. The Behavior-Interaction-Priority (BIP) framework is a model-driven approach for designing and verifying concurrent and distributed systems. To apply BIP in designing a system, designers first analyze the system's requirements to construct BIP connectors describing the coordination between the system's components. Based on these connectors, developers create a BIP model for verification that uses model checkers and JavaBIP artifacts for implementation following an exogenous approach. However, constructing the BIP connectors and creating BIP/JavaBIP artifacts require a certain level of expertise in formal methods, model-driven design, and concurrent systems. Consequently, the developers might need to invest time and effort to learn the framework and associated tools. In this work, we propose a novel mechanism to reduce developers' manual efforts when applying the BIP framework, including (1) a pseudo-natural language for specifying behavioral constraints without learning the BIP framework and (2) a compiler for automatically generating the BIP/JavaBIP artifacts, which are then used for developing concurrent software following the exogenous approach. We illustrate the feasibility of our approach by introducing OCCIwareBIP, a framework for designing, validating, and implementing concurrent cloud applications.