Towards an architectural approach for the dynamic and automatic composition of software components

Abstract

In a component-based software system the components are specified, designed and implemented with the intention to be reused, and are assembled in various contexts in order to produce a multitude of software systems. However, this ideal scenario is not always the case, e.g., the integration with legacy components. In this context, one main problem in component assembly arises. It is related to the ability to automatically and efficiently (i.e., by reducing the state-explosion phenomenon) synthesize an assembly code for a set of, possibly incompatible, software components. Moreover, this assembly should be able to evolve when things change and to be correct-by-construction, i.e., despite the changes, it always ensures a set of properties of interest. In this paper we propose a Software Architecture (SA) based approach in which architectural analysis and code synthesis are combined together in order to efficiently and correctly assemble a system out of a set of already implemented components. The approach can be equally applied to efficiently manage the whole re-factoring of the system when one or more components needs to be substituted, still maintaining the required properties. The specified and validated system SA is used as starting point for the derivation of adaptors required to correctly replace components in the composed system. The approach is applied and validated over an explanatory example concerning with a "cooling water pipe" system.

Building Customized Search Engines

“…The first objective is to componentize search engines by analyzing and decomposing existing search engines into a set of self-contained components, which we classify into six categories. This approach is consistent with many engineering disciplines that recognize how various parts of distinct tools perform the same task (Bucchiarone, et al, 2006). For example, in Google, the vector query interface, the content repository of billions of web pages, and the PageRank search algorithm Page, et al, 1998) can all be componentized as self-contained search engine components.…”

“…Our research strives to componentize search engines to achieve interoperability. The problem of componentiz-ing a technology domain is not a new one (Bucchiarone, et al, 2006). Other researchers have examined the same problem for chat software and groupware (Mørch, et al, 2004), digital libraries (Eyambe & Suleman, 2004), and audio-visual equipment (e.g., TVs and DVD players) (van Ommering, 2002).…”

A new algorithm in assembly for component-based software using dependency chart

“…Nunn and Dengo (2002) have described a component architecture which is defined by an XML schema that specifies the composition of components into a persistent, suitable, composite application. Bucchiarone et al (2006) have proposed a software architecture-based approach in which architectural analysis and code synthesis are combined together in order to assemble a system out of a set of already implemented components. More importantly for integration process, it should be possible not only to provide an assembly guide, but also to predict or calculate the qualities of an assembly from those of its constituent components.…”