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A Game of Attribute Decomposition for Software Architecture Design

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Theoretical Aspects of Computing - ICTAC 2015 (ICTAC 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 9399))

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Abstract

Attribute-driven software architecture design aims to provide decision support by taking into account the quality attributes of softwares. A central question in this process is: What architecture design best fulfills the desirable software requirements? To answer this question, a system designer needs to make tradeoffs among several potentially conflicting quality attributes. Such decisions are normally ad-hoc and rely heavily on experiences. We propose a mathematical approach to tackle this problem. Game theory naturally provides the basic language: Players represent requirements, and strategies involve setting up coalitions among the players. In this way we propose a novel model, called decomposition game (DG), for attribute-driven design. We present its solution concept based on the notion of cohesion and expansion-freedom and prove that a solution always exists. We then investigate the computational complexity of obtaining a solution. The game model and the algorithms may serve as a general framework for providing useful guidance for software architecture design. We present our results through running examples and a case study on a real-life software project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Jiamou Liu & Ziheng Wei

Authors
  1. Jiamou Liu
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  2. Ziheng Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiamou Liu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

    Martin Leucker

  2. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana-Cali, Cali, Colombia

    Camilo Rueda

  3. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana-Cali, CNRS LIX École Polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau Cedex, France

    Frank D. Valencia

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Liu, J., Wei, Z. (2015). A Game of Attribute Decomposition for Software Architecture Design. In: Leucker, M., Rueda, C., Valencia, F. (eds) Theoretical Aspects of Computing - ICTAC 2015. ICTAC 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9399. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25150-9_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25150-9_26

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-25149-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-25150-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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