Dependency Types and Subtypes in the Context of Architecture Reconstruction and Compliance Checking.

Abstract

Software architecture reconstruction and compliance checking rely on supporting tools that analyze the modules in the code and their dependencies. Tools may provide a dependency type for each dependency to provide more detail on the actual usage relation. This study is aimed on the identification of dependency characteristics which can be determined accurately and which might be interesting for architects and researchers in the context of architecture reconstruction and compliance checking. A classification is proposed which distinguishes dependency types, related subtypes, and several other characteristics. To enable reflection on the usefulness of the classified dependency details, a prototype implementation has been developed for the analysis of Java based systems. A frequency analysis of the classified dependency characteristics in three open source systems is presented, as well as an analysis of a set of rule violating dependencies in one of these systems.