A Model-Driven Architecture Approach for Recovering Microservice Architectures: Defining and Evaluating MiSAR

Abstract

Context: Microservice architecture is an architectural style in modern software systems, characterized by small, independent services called microservices. This architecture is ideal to facilitate rapid feature deployment. However, it presents a challenge for software engineers, who often lack a comprehensive architectural view due to the distributed nature and complex interdependencies of microservices. Objective: This paper presents a Model Driven Architecture approach for MicroService Architecture Recovery called MiSAR. Building on previous work that defined a Platform Independent Metamodel, this study seeks to extend this metamodel, introduce a Platform Specific Metamodel, and establish mapping rules. The goal is to enable the semi-automatic recovery of architectural models for microservice systems. Methods: An empirical study was conducted on nine microservice systems to define MiSAR’s artefacts and support semiautomatic recovery of architectural models. These artefacts are then implemented and used to semi-automatically recover the architectures of three systems. The effectiveness of MiSAR is evaluated based on metrics such as recall, precision, and F-measure, to assess the recovered models against actual architectures. We also compared the recovered architectural models with the ones documented by the developers. Results: The study identified key requirements for the Platform Independent Metamodel to support comprehensive microservice architecture recovery, leading to an incremental extension of the MiSAR Platform Independent Metamodel. Mapping rules were established to effectively transform Platform Specific Models into Platform Independent ones. Furthermore, MiSAR was successfully implemented to recover architecture models. An evaluation using three systems demonstrated that MiSAR could recover architectural models with a high degree of completeness and correctness when compared with the actual architecture. Conclusion: The MiSAR artefacts, including the extended Platform Independent Metamodel and mapping rules, effectively produce expressive architectural models of microservice systems. Systems confirmed MiSAR’s ability to semi-automatically recover accurate architectural models, providing a holistic view often missing in current software engineering practices.