Hierarchical modular diagrams: An approach to describe architectural designs

Abstract

A language independent diagrammatic notation for describing the static software structure of an architectural design is introduced. The notation serves to specify the structural relations between the comprising modules and the mapping of design concepts into a hierarchy of actual program components. It can incorporate concepts from other (textual) languages by separating design-oriented syntax, i.e., the notation itself, from detailed “inner” syntax as defined by an underlying textual language. This allows for tools to be built that generate actual code from the specified design structures, and more importantly, that create design structures during reverse engineering in support of reuse. A complete isomorphism is given for existing design languages to illustrate the technique.

The majority of this work was done while the author was at George Mason University and was partially supported by George Mason's Center of Excellence for C3I.