Pattern-based refinement schemas for design knowledge transfer

Abstract

The transition from high-level to low-level design is a labour-intensive and time-consuming activity since it involves many iterations over design models to obtain a well-designed system. Moreover, it requires the knowledge and expertise of experienced developers. Design patterns provide proven design knowledge by capturing successful solutions to recurring problems which arise when building software systems. To transfer this design knowledge into detailed design, methodological support is needed. We provide such support with patternbased re®nement schemas.In this paper, we present a pattern-based approach to the correct stepwise re®nement of UML static and dynamic design models by application of re®nement schemas. A re®nement schema is composed of two compartments. The ®rst compartment describes the abstract model of the design, whereas the second compartment shows its corresponding detailed model after transformation and instantiation of one design pattern. We also propose a number of smaller transformations called micro-re®nements whose correctness is proven. These microre®nements can be composed into sequences to produce correct re®nement schemas. Our approach will allow for the construction of intelligent CASE tools that provide automatic support for the selection, management, and application of design patterns for the re®nement of design models. Such tool support will enable effective design knowledge transfer. q

Object-oriented design: A goal-driven and pattern-based approach

“…The second category of research [7,22,23,31] focuses on how to restructure a legacy system to be more qualified for the assistance of pattern-based transformation skills. The third category [5,18] attempts to provide a methodology to serve as a bridge between users' requirement and design pattern technology.…”

“…However, the identification of precursor is still based on program structure, not users' need, which may result in a good but not useful system. Moreover, the definition of precursor may limit the application of a design pattern [23].…”

“…For instance, the HightMaintainability requirement is decomposed into HighDataConsistency, which can be supported by the primitive transformation encapsulation. Instead of focusing on implementation level transformation and quality of a software product, Kriss et al [23] focus on design level transformation and the quality of the development process. The proposed approach is employed to help the transformation from high-level design models to low-level design models capture the traceability of design.…”

“…To reduce the burden of the tedious task, a number of researchers put their efforts into automatic pattern application in which the program or model can be transformed into a new one with pattern structure without the involvement of developers [4,7,10,23,31]. Most transformations adopt layered transformation approaches by reducing the complexity of a transformation and supporting the reuse of more common mini-transformations [7,24,31].…”

“…Most transformations adopt layered transformation approaches by reducing the complexity of a transformation and supporting the reuse of more common mini-transformations [7,24,31]. In particular, Jeon et al [23] use a rule-based approach for the transformation. In their approach, the legacy system is represented as Prolog facts and design patterns are represented by inference rules.…”