Preface

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) community has started to define so-called 'profiles' in order to better suit the needs of specific domains or settings. For example, a profile for embedded systems should refine notational elements that represent real-time constraints. Another one for electronic business might take the typical software architecture of such systems, and thus its principal domain-specific entities, into consideration to come up with a UML notation tailored for that purpose.

Object and component frameworks represent a special breed of object-oriented systems they are extensible semi-finished pieces of software. Completing the semi-finished software leads to different software pieces, typically specific applications, that share the same core. Though frameworks have been developed for a wide range of domains, they use common construction principles. For example, many of the design patterns written up by Gamma et al. (1995) rely on the framework construction principles.

The aim of the UML profile for framework architectures is the definition of a UML subset, enriched with a few UML-compliant extensions, which allows the annotation of such artefacts. Thus, the resulting profile that we call UML-F does not correspond to a specific domain, but to framework technology. Though profiles might be standardized in the future, sound proposals from various communities will get the process of defining and standardizing UML profiles started. In that sense, this book sets the stage for the UML profile for framework architectures.

The book is structured under two parts.

Part I: The UML-F profile

The first chapter promotes the UML-F profile as an essential means of describing framework architectures and summarizes framework-related terminology. The following chapters cover the UML subset on which UML-F is based, and the notational elements of UML-F that support framework modeling and annotation. This includes a mechanism to define sets of related tags for essential construction principles and design patterns.

Part II: UML-F @ work

This part illustrates how UML-F is applied in the context of the sample framework JUnit. Considerations on the methodological implications of UML-F and a selection of practical hints and guidelines intended to assist in the design, development, and adaptation of frameworks complete this part.

The UML-F web site (http://www.UML-F.net) provides additional material, such as the source code of the examples discussed in the book, additional examples, research papers, and UML-F presentations.