Towards a dependency constraint language to manage software architectures

Abstract

This paper presents a dependency constraint language that allows software architects to restrict the spectrum of dependencies that can be presented in a given software system. The ultimate goal is to provide designers with means to define acceptable and unacceptable dependencies according to the planned system architecture. Once defined, such restrictions will be automatically enforced by a tool, thus avoiding silent erosions in the architecture. The paper also presents first results of applying the language in a Web-based system. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.