Executable Multi-Layered Software

TL;DR

This paper presents AnimArch, a novel visualization tool that fuses static class diagrams with dynamic executable UML models, enabling real-time animation and code generation to Python, enhancing understanding of software architecture.

Contribution

It introduces a new model fusion approach combining static and dynamic models for software visualization and automatic code generation in Python.

Findings

Effective real-time animation of software execution

Integration of static and dynamic models for better visualization

Automated source code generation from models

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel software visualisation and animation method, manifested in a prototype software tool - AnimArch. The introduced method is based on model fusion of static and dynamic models. The static model is represented by class diagram while the dynamic model is represented by source code written in high-level Object Action Language from xUML (executable UML). The class diagram defines architecture that is animated in response to real-time execution of the source code. Moreover, additional object diagram layer represents all object instances present in runtime. The AnimArch also features source code generation to Python, to bridge the gap from design to implementation. This paper provides detailed description of the modelling method and screenshots of the accompanying software tool.