Pattern-based Analysis of Orchestration Languages

Orchestration languages are of paramount importance for building composite services in service-oriented architectures. Pattern-based analysis is a method that allows to determine the expressiveness of existing languages and serves as a means of comparison between different languages. The aim of this project is the analysis and comparison of important languages for building Web Services-based orchestrations, as well as the improvement of the method of pattern-based analysis.

The predominant orchestration language today is the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) 2.0. This language is a standard that has been implemented by several companies and projects, such as the OpenESB BPEL Service Engine. An additional language is Windows Workflow 4  that is shipped by Microsoft as part of the .NET framework.

There are various aspects, represented by pattern catalogs, for which existing languages can be analyzed. So far, this project focused on the control-flow patterns, the service interaction patterns, the time patterns, and the patterns for changes in predefined regions. Executable process models for the patterns supported by one of the languages discussed above can be found under deliverables.

Publications

Deliverables

WS-BPEL 2.0 and OpenESB BPEL Service Engine process models ( (177.5 KB))
Windows Workflow 4 process models ((133.0 KB))
The process models are also available in a Subversion repository.

Participants

Jörg Lenhard