Understanding behavior of third-party components through explanation and configurable mapping models

Abstract

Most of the code executed in modern software systems is developed and maintained outside the organization. Understanding whether or not third-party components behave as intended requires expertise, which is rare and costly. Behavioral conformance checking (BCC) aims to identify deviations and conformances between system design and implementation by establishing relations between elements of design and implementation models. This dissertation aims to assist application designers in (1) simplifying BCC for different third-party components and (2) understanding the behavior of third-party components. Our method aligns more with design science methodology that aims to address research questions by developing and evaluating IT artifacts.