Using dependency models to manage software architecture

ABSTRACT

This demonstration will present a new approach, based on the Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM), which uses inter-module dependencies to specify and manage the architecture of software systems. The system is decomposed into a hierarchy of subsystems with the dependencies between the subsystems presented in the form of an adjacency matrix. The matrix representation is concise, intuitive and appears to overcome scaling problems that are commonly associated with directed graph representations. It also permits succinct definition of design rules to specify allowable dependencies.A tool, Lattix LDM, will be used to demonstrate this approach by loading actual open source Java applications to create DSMs that can represent systems with thousands of classes. We will show how algorithms can be applied to organize the matrix in a form that reflects the architecture and highlights problematic dependencies.We will demonstrate how design rules can be used to specify and enforce architectural patterns such as layering and componentization. We will examine the evolution of architecture by creating dependency models for successive generations of Ant, a popular Java utility. Finally, we will explore the application of this approach to the re-engineering of Haystack, an information retrieval system.

REFERENCES

• 1: Neeraj Sangal , Ev Jordan , Vineet Sinha , Daniel Jackson, Using dependency models to manage complex software architecture, Proceedings of the 20th annual ACM SIGPLAN conference on Object oriented programming, systems, languages, and applications, October 16-20, 2005, San Diego, CA, USA
• 2: Steven D. Eppinger, "Innovation at the Speed of Information", Harvard Business Review, January 2001.
• 3: Warfield, John N., "Binary Matrices in System Modeling" IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, vol. 3, pp. 441--449, 1973.
• 4: John A. Hartigan, Clustering Algorithms, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1975
• 5: The Haystack Project. MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. http://haystack.lcs.mit.edu/.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.11 Software Architectures
            Subjects: Information hiding
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Life cycle

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Management

Keywords:
DSM, architecture, dependency, matrix, model