Enhancing the role of the interfaces in software architecture description languages (ADLs)

Abstract

One of the key reasons why ADLs are yet to be adopted commercially on a large scale is due to shortcomings in their ability to describe adequate interface specifications. An interface specification that is vague, lacking in detail, too style focused or too language-specific results in an ADL description with a restricted scope of use. This paper demonstrates how an XML-based ADL (xADL 2.0) can be extended to model detailed, meaningful interface specifications, and is used as part of a simple prototype to demonstrate how they form an integral part of an architectural description, paying particular attention to interface-level constraints. The approach is based on the principle that an ADL's interface modeling features should provide sufficient flexibility to allow them to reflect stakeholder's interface concerns at all stages in the lifecycle.