Representing Variability Issues in Web Applications: A ... - Springer Link

Representing Variability Issues in Web Applications: A Pattern Approach Rafael Capilla1 and N. Yasemin Topaloglu2 1

Department of Informatics and Telematics, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain UFDSLOOD#HVFHWXUMFHV 2 Department of Computer Engineering, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, \DVHPLQ#ERUQRYDHJHHGXWU

Abstract. Web applications have unique characteristics that require suitable software engineering practices in the development process. In this way, software architectures and pattern-based approaches are suitable design techniques for modeling purposes. But if we want to build sets of similar systems, we need to represent the common and variable aspects of such systems under an architectural point of view. Therefore, representing and managing those variable issues is a goal to achieve when designing similar software applications. In this work we will try to deal with the variability problem from a pattern point of view as well as applying this to web software products.

1 Introduction At present, Web applications have reached a point that is far beyond from the initial considerations for Web both from the technical and social point of view. The scope and complexity of current Web applications vary from small-scale, short-lived services to large-scale enterprise applications distributed across the Internet and corporate intranets and extranets [15]. The development and maintenance of web applications have special time to market requirements in the sense that they have to be engineered in short periods of time. Often, changes are performed in days or even hours, so we need to have agile development and maintenance processes in order to solve such problems. In order to improve such development and maintenance processes, software architectures (SA) and product line architectures (PLA) are both a good choice because we can represent common and variable points and therefore try to accelerate the maintenance tasks for controlling better the evolution of the system. Software architectures represent key design decisions that meet the customer requirements in a nice way. A software architecture [4] comprises a set of components and connectors guided and restricted by architectural styles and design patterns. In this way, how to reflect the variable points (i.e.: variation points) in the architecture is an important aspect that should be supported by the basic design elements that con

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