Same but Different: Consistently Developing and Evolving Software Architecture Models and Their Implementation

As software architecture is a main driver for the software quality, source code is often accompanied by software architecture specifications. When the implementation is changed, the architecture specification is often not updated along with the code, which introduces inconsistencies between these artifacts. Such inconsistencies imply a risk of misunderstandings and errors during the development, maintenance, and evolution, causing serious degradation over the lifetime of the system. In this chapter we present the Explicitly Integrated Architecture approach and its tool Codeling, which remove the necessity for a separate representation of software architecture by integrating software architecture information with the program code. By using our approach, the specification can be extracted from the source code and changes in the specification can be propagated to the code. The integration of architecture information with the code leaves no room for inconsistencies between the artifacts and creates links between artifacts. We evaluate the approach and tool in a use case with real software in development and with a benchmark software, accompanied by a performance evaluation.

The Ionosphere Prediction Service

The aim of the Ionosphere Prediction Service (IPS) project is to design and develop a prototype platform to translate the prediction and forecast of the ionosphere effects into a service customized for specific GNSS user communities. The project team is composed by Telespazio (coordinator), Nottingham Scientific Ltd, Telespazio Vega Deutschland, the University of Nottingham, the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). The IPS development is conceived of two concurrent activities: prototype service design and development & research activity that will run along the whole project. Service design and development is conceived into four phases: user requirements collection, architecture specification, implementation and validation of the prototype. A sub-activity analyses also the integration feasibility in the Galileo Service center, located in Madrid. The research activity is the scientific backbone of IPS that will provide the models and algorithms for the forecasting products.