UML extensions for design pattern compositions

Abstract

Design patterns document good solutions to recurring problems in a particular context. Composing design patterns may achieve higher level of reuse by solving a set of problems. Design patterns and their compositions are usually modeled by UML diagrams. When a design pattern is applied or composed with other patterns, the pattern-related information may be lost because traditional UML diagrams do not track this information. Thus, it is hard for a designer to identify a design pattern when it is applied or composed. In this paper, we present notations to explicitly represent each pattern in the applications and compositions of design patterns. The notations allow us to maintain pattern-related information. Thus, a design pattern is identifiable and traceable from its application and composition with others.