Analysis of Service-oriented Modeling Approaches for Viewpoint-specific Model-driven Development of Microservice Architecture

Microservice Architecture (MSA) is a novel service-based architectural style for distributed software systems. Compared to Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), MSA puts a stronger focus on self-containment of services. Each microservice is responsible for realizing exactly one business or technological capability that is distinct from other services' capabilities. Additionally, on the implementation and operation level, microservices are self-contained in that they are developed, tested, deployed and operated independently from each other. Next to these characteristics that distinguish MSA from SOA, both architectural styles rely on services as building blocks of distributed software architecture and hence face similar challenges regarding, e.g., service identification, composition and provisioning. However, in contrast to MSA, SOA may rely on an extensive body of knowledge to tackle these challenges. Thus, due to both architectural styles being service-based, the question arises to what degree MSA might draw on existing findings of SOA research and practice. In this paper we address this question in the field of Model-driven Development (MDD) for design and operation of service-based architectures. Therefore, we present an analysis of existing MDD approaches to SOA, which comprises the identification and semantic clustering of modeling concepts for SOA design and operation. For each concept cluster, the analysis assesses its applicability to MDD of MSA (MSA-MDD) and assigns it to a specific modeling viewpoint. The goal of the presented analysis is to provide a conceptual foundation for an MSA-MDD metamodel.