ArchJava: Connecting Architecture to Implementation

ArchJava is an extension to Java that enforces communication integrity meaning that components only communicate with components that they are explicitly linked to in the architecture. This enforcement is a good thing. It turns out that as developers we aren't too good at abiding by the communication paths documented in a system architecture. Shocking I know! A framework like ArchJava forces the implementation to follow the communication paths outlined.

From a system design and documentation point of view, this is obviously good. But can tying the architecture to the implementation be too restricting? I don't think so. Can it take more time to code in this fashion? Probably. Is it worth it? I think so.