Middleware transparent development of dependable CORBA applications

Middleware technologies such as CORBA provide dependability features in the form of security and fault tolerance services. A major challenge to software development organizations is the complexity of creating and evolving distributed systems resulting from the tangling of middleware-specific functionality with core business functionality in system designs. We present an MDA-compliant middleware transparent software development approach in which application designs are developed independently of the middleware platform. Middleware features corresponding to dependability are encapsulated as aspects and woven with artifacts that realize core functionality. Our approach enables easy replacement of one dependability mechanism by another, and easy migration from one middleware platform to another. The approach also promotes reuse of aspects in multiple applications. This paper illustrates our approach with CORBA security services.