Preventing software architecture erosion through static architecture conformance checking

Software architecture erosion is a problem faced by many organizations in the software industry. It happens when `as-implemented´ architecture does not conform to the `as-intended´ architecture, which results in low quality, complex, hard to maintain software. Architecture conformance checking refers to assessing the conformity of the implemented architecture to the intended architecture and can provide a strategy for detecting software architecture erosion and thereby prevent its negative consequences. When considering the current state-of-the-art of software architecture research and popular industry practices on architectural erosion, it obviously appears that such solution strategy is much needed to address the ever increasing demands for large scale complex software systems. In this paper an analysis of existing static architecture conformance checking is undertaken. Extending previously conducted research, we are in the process of developing a static architecture conformance checking tool for Java, based on GRASP ADL as a mean to overcome the challenges of software architecture erosion. Early design/implementation details of this tool are also presented.