An Algebra of Design Patterns

作者：Zhu Hong^*; Bayley Ian

来源：ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 2013, 22(3): 23.

DOI：10.1145/2491509.2491517

• Design
• Design patterns
• formal method
• software design methodology
• pattern composition
• algebra
• equational reasoning

In a pattern-oriented software design process, design decisions are made by selecting and instantiating appropriate patterns, and composing them together. In our previous work, we enabled these decisions to be formalized by defining a set of operators on patterns with which instantiations and compositions can be represented. In this article, we investigate the algebraic properties of these operators. We provide and prove a complete set of algebraic laws so that equivalence between pattern expressions can be proven. Furthermore, we define an always-terminating normalization of pattern expression to a canonical form which is unique modulo equivalence in first-order logic.
By a case study, the pattern-oriented design of an extensible request-handling framework, we demonstrate two practical applications of the algebraic framework. First, we can prove the correctness of a finished design with respect to the design decisions made and the formal specification of the patterns. Second, we can even derive the design from these components.

• 出版日期2013-7