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A component-based process for modelling and evolving legacy systems

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • Gerald Kotonya
  • John Hutchinson
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>03/2008
<mark>Journal</mark>Software Process: Improvement and Practice
Issue number2
Volume13
Number of pages13
Pages (from-to)113-125
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date14/01/08
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

The potential benefits of evolving legacy systems to component-based system architectures are well documented. These include rapid, non-intrusive modernization through the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and significantly reduced post-maintenance costs. However, the hype has not translated to a corresponding increase in the migration of legacy systems to component-based architectures. There are two main reasons for this. First, many legacy systems provide adequate core functionality. For this type of system, replacement may not be the most cost-effective solution. Second, there is a general lack of scalable methods and tools that support component-based modelling and evolution for legacy systems. The article discusses challenges of evolving legacy systems and proposes COMPonent-Oriented Software Engineering (COMPOSE), a component-based approach built on an extensible ADL that provides a framework for modelling, verifying and evolving legacy systems using black-box components. We also describe our experience of using it to evolve a legacy system.