A Process-Oriented Software Architecture Reconstruction Taxonomy

International audienceTo maintain and understand large applications, it is cru- cial to know their architecture. The first problem is that architectures are not explicitly represented in the code as classes and packages are. The second problem is that suc- cessful applications evolve over time so their architecture inevitably drifts. Reconstructing and checking whether the architecture is still valid is thus an important aid. While there is a plethora of approaches and techniques supporting architecture reconstruction, there is no comprehensive state of the art and it is often difficult to compare the ap- proaches. This article presents a first state of the art in soft- ware architecture reconstruction, with the desire to support the understanding of the field

Apparatuses and Methods for Producing Runtime Architectures of Computer Program Modules

Apparatuses and methods for producing run-time architectures of computer program modules. One embodiment includes creating an abstract graph from the computer program module and from containment information corresponding to the computer program module, wherein the abstract graph has nodes including types and objects, and wherein the abstract graph relates an object to a type, and wherein for a specific object the abstract graph relates the specific object to a type containing the specific object; and creating a runtime graph from the abstract graph, wherein the runtime graph is a representation of the true runtime object graph, wherein the runtime graph represents containment information such that, for a specific object, the runtime graph relates the specific object to another object that contains the specific object

Putting Teeth into Open Architectures: Infrastructure for Reducing the Need for Retesting

Proceedings Paper (for Acquisition Research Program)The Navy is currently implementing the open-architecture framework for developing joint interoperable systems that adapt and exploit open-system design principles and architectures. This raises concerns about how to practically achieve dependability in software-intensive systems with many possible configurations when: 1) the actual configuration of the system is subject to frequent and possibly rapid change, and 2) the environment of typical reusable subsystems is variable and unpredictable. Our preliminary investigations indicate that current methods for achieving dependability in open architectures are insufficient. Conventional methods for testing are suited for stovepipe systems and depend strongly on the assumptions that the environment of a typical system is fixed and known in detail to the quality-assurance team at test and evaluation time. This paper outlines new approaches to quality assurance and testing that are better suited for providing affordable reliability in open architectures, and explains some of the additional technical features that an Open Architecture must have in order to become a Dependable Open Architecture.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Evaluation Of An Architectural-Level Approach For Finding Security Vulnerabilities

The cost of security vulnerabilities of a software system is high. As a result, many techniques have been developed to find the vulnerabilities at development time. Of particular interest are static analysis techniques that can consider all possible executions of a system. But, static analysis can suffer from a large number of false positives. A recently developed approach, Scoria, is a semi-automated static analysis that requires security architects to annotate the code, typecheck the annotations, extract a hierarchical object graph and write constraints in order to find security vulnerabilities in a system. This thesis evaluates Scoria on three systems (sizes 6 KLOC, 6 KLOC and 25 KLOC) from different application domains (Android and Web) and confirms that Scoria can find security vulnerabilities in those systems without an excessive number of false positives

Behavioral types in programming languages

A recent trend in programming language research is to use behav- ioral type theory to ensure various correctness properties of large- scale, communication-intensive systems. Behavioral types encompass concepts such as interfaces, communication protocols, contracts, and choreography. The successful application of behavioral types requires a solid understanding of several practical aspects, from their represen- tation in a concrete programming language, to their integration with other programming constructs such as methods and functions, to de- sign and monitoring methodologies that take behaviors into account. This survey provides an overview of the state of the art of these aspects, which we summarize as the pragmatics of behavioral types

Dynamic Validation of Software Architectural Connectors

In this work we present an approach to dynamically validate the usage of software connectors in the context of software architectures. By employing aspect oriented techniques the system’s execution is monitored in order to obtain an architectural view describing how processes communicate and interact with each other. This output can later be compared to the connectors specified in the architecture document to validate the consistency between the architecture specification and the implementation of the system. A case study is presented showing the potential of the approach. We believe the results are promising enough to consider future extensions including other architectural elements beyond connectors.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

Dynamic Validation of Software Architectural Connectors

In this work we present an approach to dynamically validate the usage of software connectors in the context of software architectures. By employing aspect oriented techniques the system’s execution is monitored in order to obtain an architectural view describing how processes communicate and interact with each other. This output can later be compared to the connectors specified in the architecture document to validate the consistency between the architecture specification and the implementation of the system. A case study is presented showing the potential of the approach. We believe the results are promising enough to consider future extensions including other architectural elements beyond connectors.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO