Adaptive Object-Model Architecture: Dynamically Adapting to Changing Requirements
Description
Architectures that can dynamically adapt to changing requirement are
sometimes called “reflective” or “meta” architectures. We call a particular
kind of reflective architecture an “Adaptive Object-Model” architecture. An
Adaptive Object-Model is a system that represents classes, attributes,
relationships, and behavior as metadata. It is a model based on instances
rather than classes. Users change the metadata (object model) to reflect
changes to the domain model. These changes modify the system’s
behavior. In other word, it stores its Object-Model in XML files or in a
database and interprets it. Consequently, the object model is adaptive;
when the descriptive information for the object model is changed, the
system immediately reflects those changes. We have noticed that the
architects of a system with Adaptive Object-Models often claim this is the
best system they have ever created, talking about its flexibility, power, and
eloquence. At the same time, many developers find them confusing and
hard to work with. This is due in part because the developers do not
understand the architecture. This tutorial will give a description of the
Adaptive Object-Model architectural style and will make it easier for
developers to understand and build these types of systems.
Additional information about the topics covered in this tutorial can be found at the
MetaData and Adaptive Object-Model Pages .
Location
Pan Pacific. Gov Gen Suite D
Date and Time
Sunday 10-24-04 8:30-12:00 noon (half-day)
Presenter
Joe Yoder, The Refactory, Inc., joeyoder (at) joeyoder.com
Joseph W. Yoder from The Refactory, Inc., has worked on the architecture,
design and implementation of software projects dating back to 1985. These
projects range from stand-alone to client-server applications, multi-tiered,
databases, object-oriented, frameworks, human-computer interaction,
collaborative environments, web-based, and domain-specific visuallanguages.
Joe is the author of over two-dozen published patterns and has
been working with patterns for a long time, writing his first pattern paper
in 1995. Recently Joseph’s focus has been on how to build dynamic and
adaptable systems and he has been providing analysis, design, and
mentoring along with writing papers to reflect these experiences.