Redesigning legacy applications for the web with UWAT+: a case study

Abstract

This paper reports on a case study of redesigning a legacy application for the Web using the Ubiquitous Web Applications Design Framework with an extended version of its Transaction Design Model (UWAT+). Web application design methodologies hold the promise of engineering high-quality and long-lived Web systems and rich Internet applications. However, many such techniques focus solely on green-field development, and do not properly address the situation of leveraging the value locked in legacy systems. The redesign process supported by UWAT+ holistically blends design recovery technologies for capturing the know-how embedded in the legacy application with forward design methods particularly well suited for Web-based systems. The case study highlights some of the benefits of using UWAT+ in this context, as well as identifying possible areas for improvement in the redesign process and opportunities for tool automation to support it.