Taming changes With 1.x-Way architecture-implementation mapping

A new approach is presented to maintain the conformance between software architecture and code in the presence of changes to both artifacts. Its novel features include suppression of mistaken changes of architecture-prescribed code, explicit recording of architecture changes, and automatic mapping of specific kinds of architecture changes to code in specific ways. In particular, a new code separation mechanism is presented to decouple architecture-prescribed code from user-defined details. It is supported by three important technologies developed in this study to manage architecture changes, including an architecture change model, architecture-based code regeneration, and architecture change notification. The approach is implemented and integrated in ArchStudio, an Eclipse-based architecture development environment.