SoD Collaborative Research: Constraint-based Architecture Evaluation

这是一个合作研究项目，包括得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的Dewayne佩里、James Brown和Sarfraz Khurshid（奖励号0438967），以及马萨诸塞州理工学院的丹尼尔杰克逊（奖励号0438897）。这个项目的目的是开发新的语言，方法，分析和工具的“规定性”的软件架构描述，以帮助复杂的软件系统的设计者表达和探索他们的架构承诺之前，实施，并支持家庭的系统，共享架构功能。使用了两种基础技术：杰克逊的Alloy约束语言和分析器，以及Browne的组合编译器。扩展了Alloy的底层逻辑，添加了新的分析功能，并将Alloy系统打包为软件组件。 组合编译器被扩展为利用约束和属性规范，以支持约束和性能分析。 在这些技术的基础上，建立了软件体系结构的抽象模型，定义了体系结构约束规范语言，定义了体系结构的组合规则和评价规则，构建了基于约束的体系结构评价集成工具集。 首先通过简单的具体实例对研究进行评估，然后通过现实案例研究，根据需要对研究进行修改和扩展，以满足总体评估目标。本项目的结果将在建筑研究、建筑教育和建筑支持技术方面产生重大而广泛的影响。 此外，预计该技术将使设计权衡的更深入的理解，将提高设计质量，并将显着改善组件的组成过程。该项目网站（http：//www.ece.utexas.edu/~perry/work/projects/nsf-cbae/）将提供对所产生的技术和工具的访问。

This is a collaborative research project including Dewayne Perry, James Brown and Sarfraz Khurshid at the University of Texas at Austin (award # 0438967), and Daniel Jackson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (award # 0438897). The aim of this project is to develop new languages, methods, analyses and tools for 'prescriptive' software architecture descriptions, to help the designers of complex software systems express and explore their architectural commitments prior to implementation, and to support families of systems that share architectural features. Two underpinning technologies are used: Jackson's Alloy constraint language and analyzer, and Browne's compositional compiler. Alloy's underlying logic is expanded, new analysis capabilities are added, and the Alloy system is packaged as a software component. The compositional compiler is extended to utilize constraints and property specifications in order to support both constraint and performance analyses. On the basis of these technologies, an abstract model of software architecture is created, an architecture constraint specification language is defined, the rules of composition and evaluation are defined, and an integrated tool suite for constraint-based architectural evaluation is constructed. The research is evaluated first by simple specific examples and then with realistic case studies, revising and extending the research as needed to satisfy the overall evaluation goals.The results of this project will have a significant and broad impact in terms architectural research, architecture education and architecture support technology. Further, it is expected that the technology will enable deeper understandings of design trade-offs, will improve design quality, and will significantly improve the component composition process. The project Web site (http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~perry/work/projects/nsf-cbae/) will provide access to the resulting techniques and tools.