HEDGEHOG: Automatic Verification of Design Patterns in Java

Abstract

Design patterns are widely used by designers and developers for building complex systems in object-oriented programming languages such as Java. However, systems evolve over time, increasing the chance that the pattern in its original form will be broken. To verify that a design pattern has not been broken involves specifying the original intent of the design pattern. Whilst informal descriptions of patterns exist, no formal specifications are available due to differences in implementations between programming languages. This thesis shows that many patterns (implemented in Java) can be verified automatically. Patterns are defined in terms of variants, mini-patterns, and artefacts in a pattern description language called SPINE. These specifications are then processed by HEDGEHOG, an automated proof tool that attempts to prove that Java source code meets these specifications.