: Successful Software reuse requires the systematic discovery and exploitation of commonality across related software systems. By examining related software systems and the underlying theory of the class of systems they represent, domain analysis can provide a generic description of the requirements of that class of systems and a set of approaches for their implementation. This report will establish methods for performing a domain analysis and describe the products of the domain analysis process. To illustrate the application of domain analysis to a representative class of software systems, this report will provide a domain analysis of window management system software.

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Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study

The Web is moving from being a collection of pages toward a collection of services that interoperate through the Internet. The first step toward this interoperation is the location of other services that can help toward the solution of a problem. In this paper we claim that location of web services should be based on the semantic match between a declarative description of the service being sought, and a description of the service being offered. Furthermore, we claim that this match is outside the representation capabilities of registries such as UDDI and languages such as WSDL.We propose a solution based on DAML-S, a DAML-based language for service description, and we show how service capabilities are presented in the Profile section of a DAML-S description and how a semantic match between advertisements and requests is performed.

https://www.cmpe.boun.edu.tr/~pyolum/cmpe596/papers/matchmaking.pdf

Semantic Matching of Web Services Capabilities

Software architectures shift the focus of developers from lines-of-code to coarser-grained architectural elements and their overall interconnection structure. Architecture description languages (ADLs) have been proposed as modeling notations to support architecture-based development. There is, however, little consensus in the research community on what is an ADL, what aspects of an architecture should be modeled in an ADL, and which of several possible ADLs is best suited for a particular problem. Furthermore, the distinction is rarely made between ADLs on one hand and formal specification, module interconnection, simulation and programming languages on the other. This paper attempts to provide an answer to these questions. It motivates and presents a definition and a classification framework for ADLs. The utility of the definition is demonstrated by using it to differentiate ADLs from other modeling notations. The framework is used to classify and compare several existing ADLs, enabling us, in the process, to identify key properties of ADLs. The comparison highlights areas where existing ADLs provide extensive support and those in which they are deficient, suggesting a research agenda for the future.

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A classification and comparison framework for software architecture description languages

Motivated by the properties of spreading activation and conceptual distance, the authors propose a metric, called distance, on the power set of nodes in a semantic net. Distance is the average minimum path length over all pairwise combinations of nodes between two subsets of nodes. Distance can be successfully used to assess the conceptual distance between sets of concepts when used on a semantic net of hierarchical relations. When other kinds of relationships, like 'cause', are used, distance must be amended but then can again be effective. The judgements of distance significantly correlate with the distance judgements that people make and help to determine whether one semantic net is better or worse than another. The authors focus on the mathematical characteristics of distance that presents novel cases and interpretations. Experiments in which distance is applied to pairs of concepts and to sets of concepts in a hierarchical knowledge base show the power of hierarchical relations in representing information about the conceptual distance between concepts. >

Development and application of a metric on semantic nets

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are languages tailored to a specific application domain. They offer substantial gains in expressiveness and ease of use compared with general-purpose programming languages in their domain of application. DSL development is hard, requiring both domain knowledge and language development expertise. Few people have both. Not surprisingly, the decision to develop a DSL is often postponed indefinitely, if considered at all, and most DSLs never get beyond the application library stage.Although many articles have been written on the development of particular DSLs, there is very limited literature on DSL development methodologies and many questions remain regarding when and how to develop a DSL. To aid the DSL developer, we identify patterns in the decision, analysis, design, and implementation phases of DSL development. Our patterns improve and extend earlier work on DSL design patterns. We also discuss domain analysis tools and language development systems that may help to speed up DSL development. Finally, we present a number of open problems.

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When and how to develop domain-specific languages

To reuse a software component, you first have to find it. The faceted scheme described here is a partial solution to this classification and retrieval problem.

Classifying Software for Reusability

Experience with the development, implementation, and deployment of reuse library technology is reported. The focus is on organizing software collections for reuse using faceted classifications. Briefly described are the successfully GTE Data Services' Asset Management Program and the steps taken at Contel for furthering reuse technology. The technology developed for reuse libraries is presented, followed by a description of how it was transferred. The experience described indicates that reuse library technology is available and transferable, and that it definitely has a positive financial impact on the organization implementing it. >

Implementing faceted classification for software reuse

The objective of this paper is to provide a brief introduction to the area of domain analysis as seen from the software engineering perspective. The approach is by illustrating the concepts through selected reported experiences and to point out the specific characteristics of these experiences that relate to domain analysis. Definitions are introduced after the examples to avoid over explaining the concepts. A model for the domain analysis process is also proposed. The concept of a library based domain infrastructure is introduced as an attempt to show how domain analysis is integrated into the software development process.A second objective in this paper is to give a perspective on some of the research issues facing domain analysis. The nature of the process calls for a variety of multidiciplinary issues ranging from knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation to management and methodologies to cultural and social questions.

Domain analysis: an introduction

Domain Analysis and Software Systems Modeling

It is argued that the problem with software engineering is not a lack of reuse, but a lack of widespread, systematic reuse. The reuse research community is focusing on formalizing reuse because it recognizes that substantial quality and productivity payoffs will be achieved only if reuse is conducted systematically and formally. The history of reuse, which is characterized by this struggle to formalize in a setting where pragmatic problems are the norm and fast informal solutions usually take precedence, is reviewed. Several reuse methods are discussed. >

Rubén Prieto-Díaz

Papers

Classifying Software for Reusability

Implementing faceted classification for software reuse

Domain analysis: an introduction

Domain Analysis and Software Systems Modeling

Status report: software reusability