Automated Evaluation of Coordination Approaches.pdfVIP

Automated Evaluation of Coordination Approaches Tibor Bosse, Mark Hoogendoorn, and Jan Treur Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Artificial Intelligence De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands {tbosse, mhoogen, treur}@cs.vu.nl http://www.cs.vu.nl/~{tbosse, mhoogen, treur} Abstract. How to coordinate the processes in a complex component-based software system is a nontrivial issue. Many different coordination approaches exist, each with its own specific advantages and drawbacks. To support their mutual comparison, this paper proposes a formal methodology to automatically evaluate the performance of coordination approaches. This methodology comprises (1) creation of simulation models of coordination approaches, (2) execution of simulation experiments of these models applied to test examples, and (3) automated evaluation of the models against specified requirements. Moreover, in a specific case study, the methodology is used to evaluate some coordination approaches that originate from various disciplines. 1 Introduction Coordinating processes in a complex software system is a nontrivial issue. By a component-based approach to software systems, a divide and conquer strategy can be used to address the various aspects involved. This may lead to a possibly large number of components, which each can be analysed and designed independently. However, a designer may still be left with the problem how all these fragments can be combined into a coherent system. To solve such a problem, many different coordination approaches have