Semantic Integrity in Component Based Development

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Semantic Integrity in Component Based Development

• Martin Blom, Eivind J. Nordby
• Karlstad University, Computer Science,
• 651 88 KarlstadMartin.Blom, Eivind.Nordby_at_kau.s
  e

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Motivation and Objectives

• Component technology promotes a flexible
  combination of software parts
• developed by third parties
• used in different environments
• spread out across a network
• no source code available
• Requires a lot from both syntactic and semantic
  descriptions
• Our goal Investigate how semantic aspects are
  managed for components

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Semantic Integrity and Contracts

• Semantic integrity
• Each part of a software system respects the
  intended purpose of any other individual part of
  that system.
• Contract
• An agreement of conditions for use between a
  client and a supplier
• The client is obliged to satisfy the contracts
  precondition
• In that case only, the supplier is bound by the
  contracts postcondition
• Expressed strictly in externally observable terms

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Literature Searches

• Where
• Recent issues of scientific and engineering
  proceedings and communications
• IEEE, ACM, Elsevier, Springer
• For what
• Semantic, integrity, semantic description,
  software, component, interface, interface
  definition, contract

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Our Findings (1)

• Semantic integrity mostly used with databases
• Component definitions mostly concerned with
  syntax
• Interface Description Languages
• Consensus that syntax is not enough to describe a
  component

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Our Findings (2)

• Semantic relationships discussed
• in intuitive terms not alter the service
  expectations
• with programming constructs OCL, assertions
• most often executable statements
• in formal terms provable correctness
• takes competence, time and resources
• Contract often used to describe semantics
• sometimes used to imply syntax only

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Focuses from the survey
Abstraction level
High
Semantic awareness
Formal
Executable
Pragmatic
Intuitive
None
Low
Definition
Reuse
Maintenance
Life cycle stage
8
Missing focus
Abstraction level
High





Semantic awareness
Formal
Executable
Pragmatic
Intuitive
None
Low




Definition




Reuse
Maintenance
Life cycle stage
9
Thank you for your attention!Are there any
questions?

• Martin Blom, Eivind J. Nordby
• Karlstad University, Computer Science,
• 651 88 KarlstadMartin.Blom, Eivind.Nordby_at_kau.s
  e