Migrating software to mobile technology: a model driven engineering approach

Nowadays, organizations are facing the problematic of having to modernize or replace their legacy software. This software has involved the investment of money, time and other resources through the ages and there is a high risk in replacing it. The purpose of reengineering is to adapt software in a disciplined way in order to improve its quality in aspects such as operability, functionality or performance. The focus of reengineering is on improving an existing system with a higher return on investment than would be achieved by developing a new system. In the context of reengineering, the term legacy was associated with software that survived several generations of developers, administrators and users. The entry into the market of new technologies or paradigms is increasingly occurring and, motivates the growing demand for the adaptation of systems developed more recently. Mobile Computing is crucial to harvesting the potential of these new paradigms. Smartphones are the most used computing platform worldwide. They come with a variety of sensors (GPS, accelerometer, digital compass, microphone and camera) enabling a wide range of applications in Pervasive Computing, Cloud Computing and Internet of Things (IoT)

Migrating C/C++ Software to Mobile Platforms in the ADM Context

Software technology is constantly evolving and therefore the development of applications requires adapting software components and applications in order to be aligned to new paradigms such as Pervasive Computing, Cloud Computing and Internet of Things. In particular, many desktop software components need to be migrated to mobile technologies. This migration faces many challenges due to the proliferation of different mobile platforms. Developers usually make applications tailored for each type of device expending time and effort. As a result, new programming languages are emerging to integrate the native behaviors of the different platforms targeted in development projects. In this direction, the Haxe language allows writing mobile applications that target all major mobile platforms. Novel technical frameworks for information integration and tool interoperability such as Architecture-Driven Modernization (ADM) proposed by the Object Management Group (OMG) can help to manage a huge diversity of mobile technologies. The Architecture-Driven Modernization Task Force (ADMTF) was formed to create specifications and promote industry consensus on the modernization of existing applications. In this work, we propose a migration process from C/C++ software to different mobile platforms that integrates ADM standards with Haxe. We exemplify the different steps of the process with a simple case study, the migration of “the Set of Mandelbrot” C++ application. The proposal was validated in Eclipse Modeling Framework considering that some of its tools and run-time environments are aligned with ADM standards

Migrating C/C++ Software to Mobile Platforms in the ADM Context

Software technology is constantly evolving and therefore the development of applications requires adapting software components and applications in order to be aligned to new paradigms such as Pervasive Computing, Cloud Computing and Internet of Things. In particular, many desktop software components need to be migrated to mobile technologies. This migration faces many challenges due to the proliferation of different mobile platforms. Developers usually make applications tailored for each type of device expending time and effort. As a result, new programming languages are emerging to integrate the native behaviors of the different platforms targeted in development projects. In this direction, the Haxe language allows writing mobile applications that target all major mobile platforms. Novel technical frameworks for information integration and tool interoperability such as Architecture-Driven Modernization (ADM) proposed by the Object Management Group (OMG) can help to manage a huge diversity of mobile technologies. The Architecture-Driven Modernization Task Force (ADMTF) was formed to create specifications and promote industry consensus on the modernization of existing applications. In this work, we propose a migration process from C/C++ software to different mobile platforms that integrates ADM standards with Haxe. We exemplify the different steps of the process with a simple case study, the migration of “the Set of Mandelbrot” C++ application. The proposal was validated in Eclipse Modeling Framework considering that some of its tools and run-time environments are aligned with ADM standards