Title: Managing software evolution with a formalised abstraction hierarchy

Authors: Timo Aaltonen, Tommi Mikkonen

Addresses: Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland. ' Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland

Abstract: Complex computer systems are seldom implemented from scratch, but they contain significant amounts of legacy code, which is under continuous pressure for evolution. We propose a management method for reactive and distributed systems, based on creating a formal abstraction hierarchy to model the system with abstractions that exceed those that are used as implementation facilities. The hierarchy is used to estimate an effort needed for implementing a modification by associating the modification to abstractions in the hierarchy and by determining the abstractions that need to be revised to retain the hierarchy consistency.

Keywords: abstractions; formal methods; aspect orientation; software evolution; formal abstraction hierarchy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2008.017724

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2008 Vol.31 No.1/2, pp.120 - 130

Published online: 27 Mar 2008 *

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