First Class Connectors for Prototyping Service Oriented Architectures

Abstract

Prototyping Service Oriented Architectures based on web services is a complex and time consuming process. Several steps, some of them complicated, are required for even the simplest application. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to create prototypes using more familiar constructs, entirely within a single programming language, and then define some of the components as web services, and others as clients. We present a framework which enables programmers to create web services and clients in ArchJava, an extension to Java which supports components and connectors as first class entities, by defining interfaces to services as ports on components. This supports rapid creation of prototypes by defining a component and connector structure of a web service based system in ArchJava, and then later, with only minor modifications, change the prototype to use web services. The services and client components will not be aware of this. From their point of view they are talking through connectors. Client components can also be connected to existing web services.