Formalizing 'traceability' for architectural evolutions

Abstract

Software architectures evolve over time, and so do the models that represent them. For a domain like Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) this is particularly true because most SOA solution designs are based on modification of existing assets that change over time. However, today there exists only limited work that reasons about this evolution. In this work we present our framework for traceability of evolving architectures that we apply for SOA solution design. Our design approach is based on an iterative process that utilizes a set of solution patterns to guide architects in the SOA solution design. Our approach utilizes historical data about pattern enablement and uses that to guide architects in selecting the right patterns. To ensure that the right patterns are used, we use a template matching approach that enforces conformance by allowing only the right set of artifacts to be composed together. We demonstrate how our framework can be applied to compose and trace evolving SOA solutions based on three views - the artifact view, profile view and compliance view. © 2010 IEEE.