A classification and comparison framework for software architecture description languages
Open accessAbstract
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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Enriching software architecture documentation
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“…approaches for documenting the relevant views of software architecture to help practitioners successfully use it, maintain it, and build a software system from it, including unified modeling language, architecture description languages (e.g., [58]), and domain-specific languages (e.g., [59]).”
BackgroundStop the software architecture erosion: building better software systems
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- Authors
- Medvidovic, N., & Taylor, R. N.
- Affiliations
- Dept. of Comput. Sci., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- ORCID
- Taylor, R.N.
- Venue
- IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
- Published
- 2000-01
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 70-93
- ISSN
- 0098-5589 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-3520
- 2326-3881
- OpenAlex
- W2162366870
- Cited by
- 1,987
- References
- 84
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 68 · 2013: 80 · 2012: 88
- FWCI
- 329.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Licence
- Locations
- IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Software › Model-Driven Software Engineering Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Advanced Software Engineering Methodologies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Software Engineering Techniques and Practices
- Keywords
- architecture description languages, software architecture, modeling notation, formal specification, module interconnection, simulation languages, programming languages, architectural modeling
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