Coping with Heterogeneity in Software Architecture

For software, as for buildings, no single architectural style can solve all problems: Heterogeneity is inevitable. Just as inevitable, diverse components and systems will have to work together. Distinct architectural styles often require different component packaging and interactions; these complicate the interoperation problem. We need to improve our ability to recognize mismatches among heterogeneous parts, to organize our current ad hoc techniques for coping with these mismatches, and to develop design guidance for selecting the appropriate mismatch resolution technique for each specific problem. This position paper lays out a preliminary structure for discussing the problem and suggests useful directions.