Architecture Description Languages Taxonomies Review

Self-adaptive distributed embedded systems can automatically adjust their behavior and/or structure at run time to respond to some predictable or unpredictable events. On the other hand, architecture description languages (ADLs) are qualified to be a convenient solution to model systems architecture as a set of components with well-defined interfaces and links. ADLs have been well-studied and applied in many engineering areas beyond the software and hardware engineering. This research work reviews the most relevant ADLs taxonomies and surveys from 2000 till now, selects the most suitable ADLs for self-adaptive embedded systems, and compares between standard and non-standard ADLs based on some key criteria. To do this, a search methodology was followed enabling a systematic review. Results showed that only a few standard ADL have been accepted by the embedded industry favoring domain-specific ADLs with a proved support of adaptivity, real time, energy consumption and security.

Teaching Software Architecture Patterns Using ACME Language: تدريس أنماط معمارية البرمجيات باستخدام لغة أكمي

Software Architecture is one of the most important courses, in computer science discipline. It has many branches all of them aimed to prepare students to be architects on the industry. But actually, there is a gap between what the students find on the theoretical courses and what they find on the industry. On other words, the practical experience differs from academic theory. So the question is how to prepare students to join the industry? Abstract nature of the software engineering courses as general and software architecture in a special manner, led to difficulties in understanding, this raises the second question, how to make these courses understandable? All previous studies focusing on these problems either by changing course curricula or by using software tools. This paper extension for the previous study [1] as we survey Architecture Description Languages (ADLs) and conclude that ACME is a general-purpose language and it may be suitable for use as practical part for software architecture curricula. We aimed to design a framework use, ACME language, use it as a practical part of the software architecture course and supporting on teaching, focus on architecture patterns, thus we use most common architecture patterns layer and Pipes-Filters, starting with a simple example and increase the complexity.

Architecture Description Language – Systematic Literature Review: دراسة استقصائية حول لغات توصيف معمارية البرمجيات

increase numbers and complexity of software development requires that learners of software engineering and software architecture or software architects who do not have sufficient practical experience must have the skills and abilities to perform their jobs. But there is a gap between academia and practical so the question why does not use one of the architecture description languages in teaching and learn software engineering and software architecture to fill this gap? The objective of this study to classification ADLs according to their domain, domain specific or general purpose languages, doing these systematic literature review flowing the steps from Ketchenham. As the result we find that most ADLs are Domain Specific ADLs (Aviation Systems, Distribution Systems, Mobile Systems, Product Lines …etc. ) none of these ADLs is used in the field of software architecture education, but most intended to deal with experts in the field, except general purpose ADLs, like ACME, which we make as start point to design Arabic ADL, so as to enrich Arabic content, also to be as helping language in teaching Software Architecture course, because most of ADLs need experience and high level of understanding to use, moreover, when student think and design with same language subject more understandable. So using software architecture description languages in educating purpose, help on understanding high level of abstraction of software architecture and software engineering courses, there are some studies that aimed to reduce the complexity of these courses using different methodologies and approaches, but none of them using architecture description languages as helping tool. So the use of architecture description languages is helpful in teaching software architecture and software engineering courses.