Abstract

Using plugins as a mechanism for extending applications to provide extra functionality is appealing, but current implementations are limited in scope. We have designed a framework to allow the construction of flexible and complex systems from plugin components. In this paper we describe how the use of modelling techniques helped in the exploration of design issues and refine our ideas before implementing them. We present both an informal model and a formal specification produced using Alloy. Alloy's associated tools allowed us to analyse the plugin system's behaviour statically.

Citations