Louis Perrochon, Walter Mann Computer Systems Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305,

IEEE Software, Sept./Oct. 1999

Keywords: Software engineering, software evolution, software architecture, design recovery

Language: English.

Abstract:

Have you ever put a software system together without working out the full architecture beforehand? If yes, did you feel guilty for not following good software practice? We think that not doing a design up-front may be the right thing to do in the face of rapid technology change. Today's software systems evolve too quickly, include too much legacy code, and designers of complex component-based systems cannot always anticipate properties at the design phase. We introduce new methodologies to deal with rapid software evolution. However, we do not advocate eliminating the notion of design. Rather, for highly dynamic systems of systems, we suggest designs based on implementations instead of implementations based on a design. We call such designs inferred designs.

Available files: [gzipped postscript (early version)]