Developing a Conceptual Framework for Software Evolution Methods via Architectural Metrics

Part 2: Evolutionary ComputationInternational audienceBecause of the vital need for software systems to evolve and change over time in order to account for new requirements, software evolution at higher levels of modeling is considered as one of the main foundation within software engineering used to reduce complexity and ensure flexibility, usability and reliability. In similar studies for migration technique and software engineering, presenting a framework do not usually cover the specification of systems based on software architecture. In this paper, we specify a conceptual framework based on six explicit dimensions in respect to an architectural view-point as first class citizen. Indeed, sketching evolution relies upon identifying dimensions on which researchers try to answer while performing a new approach. The proposed model is based on answering What, Where, When, Who, Why and How questions. Analyzing these dimensions could provide a multiple choice to implement classification for architectural techniques. Further and using an example, these dimensions are quantified and then analyzed. This framework aims to provide a blueprint to guide researches to position architectural evolution approaches and maps them according a selected set of dimensions