A Pattern-based Software Engineering Tool for Grid Environments

A pattern-based software engineering tool for constructing workflow based applications is described. The tool provides a novel way of composing applications executing over Grid resources. The tool provides a structured design approach, centered on the manipulation of patterns through pre-defined pattern operators. Patterns and operators are divided into two categories: structural and behavioural. Structural operators act upon structural patterns to build reusable architectures. Behavioural patterns define the data and control flow dependencies between components in the architecture. Components within a pattern are subsequently instantiated with particular executables, and behavioural operators allow subsequent execution control and reconfiguration of the application. 1 Introduction and Related Work The Grid [1] provides an important paradigm for large scale distributed computing. A primary objective within such a paradigm is to provide co-ordinated sharing of geographically distributed services (which may include hardware, software and information resources) across multiple administrative domains. Hence, Grid environments may be heterogeneous and dynami