Applying a Generative Technique for Enhanced Genericity and Maintainability on the J2EE Platform

One of the themes in building reusable and maintainable software is identifying similarities and designing generic solutions to unify similarity patterns. In this paper, we analyze capabilities of J2EE to effectively unify similarity patterns found in Web Portals (WP). Our experimentation involved a family of WPs to support information sharing and team collaboration, built by our industry partner. While J2EE provides useful mechanisms for reuse of common services across components, we found its limitations in systematic across-the-board reuse in application domain-specific areas. To solve these problems, we applied a generative programming (GP) technique of XVCL on top of J2EE. By unifying similarity patterns, we increased the clarity of portal’s conceptual structure as perceived by developers, reducing also the size of the original J2EE WP by 61%. Our solution enhanced traceability of information that mattered during changes. Based on that we hypothesized that XVCL-enhanced J2EE WP would be easier to maintain than the original J2EE WP. In the paper, we describe our solution and evaluate its engineering merits in both quantitative and qualitative ways.