article

π-ADL: an Architecture Description Language based on the higher-order typed π-calculus for specifying dynamic and mobile software architectures

Author:

Flavio OquendoAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, Volume 29, Issue 3

Pages 1 - 14

https://doi.org/10.1145/986710.986728

Published: 01 May 2004 Publication History

Abstract

A key aspect of the design of any software system is its architecture. An architecture description, from a runtime perspective, should provide a formal specification of the architecture in terms of components and connectors and how they are composed together. Further, a dynamic or mobile architecture description must provide a specification of how the architecture of the software system can change at runtime. Enabling specification of dynamic and mobile architectures is a large challenge for an Architecture Description Language (ADL). This article describes π-ADL, a novel ADL that has been designed in the ArchWare European Project to address specification of dynamic and mobile architectures. It is a formal, well-founded theoretically language based on the higher-order typed π-calculus. While most ADLs focus on describing software architectures from a structural viewpoint, π-ADL focuses on formally describing architectures encompassing both the structural and behavioural viewpoints. The π-ADL design principles, concepts and notation are presented. How π-ADL can be used for specifying static, dynamic and mobile architectures is illustrated through case studies. The π-ADL toolset is outlined.

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cover image ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes

ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes Volume 29, Issue 3

May 2004

102 pages

ISSN:0163-5948

DOI:10.1145/986710

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Copyright © 2004 Author.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 01 May 2004

Published in SIGSOFT Volume 29, Issue 3

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Dobrean DDioşan L(2022)Pathways for statically mining the Model-View-Controller software architecture on mobile applicationsSoft Computing - A Fusion of Foundations, Methodologies and Applications10.1007/s00500-022-06908-026:19(10493-10511)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s00500-022-06908-0
Oussalah MSaadi AHammal Y(2021)A CSP-Based Approach for Managing the Dynamic Reconfiguration of Software ArchitectureInternational Journal of Information Technologies and Systems Approach10.4018/IJITSA.202101010914:1(156-173)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJITSA.2021010109
Paulweber PSimhandl GZdun U(2021)Specifying with Interface and Trait Abstractions in Abstract State Machines: A Controlled ExperimentACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/345096830:4(1-29)Online publication date: 23-Jul-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3450968
Yasser AAbu-Elkhier MGrundy J(2021)Towards fluid software architecturesProceedings of the 36th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering10.1109/ASE51524.2021.9678647(1368-1372)Online publication date: 15-Nov-2021
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Strohmeier SGross F(2020)Designing an architecture description language for nontechnical actors and purposes (NOTE-ADL)Journal of Enterprise Information Management10.1108/JEIM-06-2018-0120ahead-of-print:ahead-of-printOnline publication date: 7-Mar-2020
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