On the formalization of architectural types with process algebras

Abstract

Architectural styles play an important role in software engineering as they convey codified principles and experience which help the construction of software systems with high levels of efficiency and confidence. We address the problem of formalizing and analyzing architectural styles in an operational setting by introducing the intermediate abstraction of architectural type. We develop the concept of architectural type in a process algebraic framework because of its modeling adequacy and the availability of means, such as Milner's weak bisimulation equivalence, which allow us to reason compositionally and efficiently about the well formedness of architectural types.