Home // International Journal On Advances in Software, volume 13, numbers 1 and 2, 2020 // View article
Authors:
Mihaela Iridon
Keywords: integration models; design antipatterns; leaky abstractions; database management
Abstract:
Prototyping integration points with external systems and new technologies is an excellent starting point for validating certain design aspects but turning that into a complete enterprise solution goes far beyond implementing a working passthrough prototype. In some instances, the focus on functional features and tight deadlines lead to inadequate attention placed on non-functional system attributes, such as scalability, extensibility, performance, etc. Many design guidelines, best practices, and principles have been established, and antipatterns were identified and explained at length. Yet, it is not uncommon to encounter actual implementations suffering from deficiencies prescribed by these antipatterns. The first part of this paper discusses Leaky Abstractions, Mixing Concerns, and Vendor Lock-in antipatterns, as some of the more frequent offenders in case of system integration design. Ensuing problems such as the lack of proper structural and behavioral abstractions are revealed, along with potential solutions aiming to avoid costly consequences due to integration instability, constrained system evolution, and poor testability. The second half of this industry case study shows how unsuitable technology and tooling choices for database design, source code, and release management can lead to a systemic incoherence of the data layer models and artifacts, and implicitly to painful database management and deployment strategies. Raising awareness about certain design and technological challenges is what this paper aims to achieve.
Pages: 80 to 91
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2020. Used with permission.
Publication date: June 30, 2020
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2628