An Interface Definition Language for Supporting Stub Generation in Self-Distributing Systems

Programming software systems for the computing continuum is not an easy task. Engineers have to account for operating environment volatility and high levels of heterogeneity while optimally exploiting the underlying computing resources. As a response to that, the concept of Self-distributing System (SDS) was introduced. The SDS enables the creation of local systems using a component-based approach, with intelligent algorithms responsible for dynamically distributing components across a distributed infrastructure at runtime and with minimum human intervention, using a distribution technique that involves replacing local components with proxies that act as Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) stubs, forwarding incoming calls to relocated components running on external machines. However, this programming paradigm requires developers to manually create distribution proxies after system components are developed, adding an extra burden for software engineers by requiring development time and knowledge about distribution techniques/infrastructure. To address this challenge, this work introduces an Interface Definition Language (IDL) that supports the generation of stubs for self-distributing systems. We evaluate our approach through a matrix multiplication use case, where a single local instance of a matrix multiplication program autonomously distributes itself via automatically created proxies and dynamically scales the system in response to an increase in the volume of requests.