Continuous API Evolution in Heterogenous Enterprise Software Systems

TL;DR

This paper presents an easy-to-use approach for evolving interfaces in heterogeneous enterprise software systems, ensuring compatibility amidst independent component updates and legacy system integration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for interface evolution that simplifies developer adherence and addresses challenges in heterogeneous and legacy enterprise environments.

Findings

Supports independent deployment of system parts

Ensures interface compatibility during evolution

Facilitates legacy system integration

Abstract

The ability to independently deploy parts of a software system is one of the cornerstones of modern software development, and allows for these parts to evolve independently and at different speeds. A major challenge of such independent deployment, however, is to ensure that despite their individual evolution, the interfaces between interacting parts remain compatible. This is especially important for enterprise software systems, which are often highly integrated and based on heterogenous IT infrastructures. Although several approaches for interface evolution have been proposed, many of these rely on the developer to adhere to certain rules, but provide little guidance for doing so. In this paper, we present an approach for interface evolution that is easy to use for developers, and also addresses typical challenges of heterogenous enterprise software, especially legacy system integration.