Reactive Blocks
| Company type | Software platform |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development, Model-driven engineering |
| Headquarters | Norway |
| Products | Visual model-driven development platform centered on Activity Diagrams |
Reactive Blocks represents a visual, model-driven development platform centered on Activity Diagrams. It facilitates formal model verification, automatic code production, hierarchical structuring, and offers an extensive collection of reusable components tailored for the Java ecosystem.
Concept
Originating from research conducted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology alongside the Institute for Telematics, Reactive Blocks allows developers to build sophisticated applications through a graphical interface by assembling reusable blocks defined via graphical models and Java programming. The graphical representation incorporates UML activity diagrams and state machines. Users have the ability to enhance the pre-existing library by creating custom blocks utilizing the complete Java platform capabilities.
Every block includes an interface with input and output pins, accompanied by a contract that outlines its states and permissible interactions. These contracts serve as the foundation for formal application analysis within Reactive Blocks, identifying potential problems such as deadlocks or improper termination sequences. The tool highlights these critical states and provides detailed stepwise animations demonstrating the state transitions that lead to errors.
Successfully verified applications are automatically transformed into Java source code and organized as conventional Eclipse Java projects. This approach ensures smooth integration with established development processes, supporting functionalities like exporting executable JAR files, debugging, and performance profiling.
Supported Platforms
- Java (software platform)
- Open Services Gateway initiative
- Eclipse Kura, an open-source framework designed for M2M solutions
- ESF, a Java-based OSGi framework targeting M2M multiservice gateways, intelligent devices, and IoT systems
Literature
- Reactive Semantics for Distributed UML Activities, Kraemer & Herrmann, 2010, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
- Block by Block Towards IoT Applications, Frank Alexander Kraemer, Bitreactive, 2015