Method and system for selecting software components based on a degree of coherence

Abstract

Disclosed is a novel system and method to select software components. A set of available software components are accessed. Next, one or more dimensions are defined. Each dimension is an attribute to the set of available software components. A set of coherence distances between each pair of the available software components in the set of available software components is calculated for each of the dimensions that have been defined. Each of the coherence distances are combined between each pair of the available software components that has been calculated in the set of the coherence distances into an overall coherence degree for each of the available software components. Using the overall coherence degree, one or more software components are selected to be included in a software bundle.

1 . A computer-implemented method to select software components, the method comprising:
 accessing a set of available software components, the set of available software components containing at least two software components;   defining one or more dimensions, each dimension being an attribute to the set of available software components, wherein the dimensions include at least one of a provider of a software component, an industry a software component is deployed, a function a software component performs, an implementation of a software component, and an operating system used for a software component;   calculating, with a processor, a set of coherence distances between each pair of the available software components in the set of available software components along each of the dimensions that have been defined;   combining each of the coherence distances between each pair of the available software components that has been calculated in the set of the coherence distances into an overall coherence degree for each of the available software components; and   selecting, using the overall coherence degree, one or more software components to be included in a software bundle.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the calculating, with the processor, the set of coherence distances between each pair of software components includes using a relationship ontology, assigning similarity factors for each relationship kind in the relationship ontology, and constructing a semantic tree of the set of software components. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the accessing a set of a plurality of available software components, includes accessing one or more binary coded
 operating systems,   middleware applications, and   software applications.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 assembling the software bundle into a pre-configured image or multiple images for use on a cloud-enabled system.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the combining each of the coherence distances that has been calculated in the set of the coherence distances into an overall coherence degree for each of the available software components only when the coherence degrees of each pair of components are constrained by predefined threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting, using the overall coherence degree, one or more software components to be included in a software bundle only when there is no conflict therebetween. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the calculating, with the processor, the set of coherence distances between each pair of the available software components in the set of available software components along each of the dimensions j that have been defined by a coherence distance Φ i     1     i     2     j  between each pair Π i     1    and Π i     2    of the available software components, using an equation
   Φ i     1     i     2     j =|β i     1     j −β i     2     j |
 
 
       where β is a metric measurement assigned to a dimension. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the calculating, with the processor, the set of coherence distances between each pair of the available software components in the set of available software components along each of the dimensions j that have been defined by a coherence distance Φ i     1     i     2     j  between each pair Π i     1   , Π i     2    of the available software components, using an equation 
       
         
           
             
               
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       , where 0<α i <1 and an ontology is defined to describe software using above relationships, and P i     1     i     2    is a set of all similarity factors indices that lie on a path from Π i     1    to Π i     2    on a coherence graph. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the combining each of the coherence distances between each pair Π i     1    to Π i     2    of the available software components that has been calculated in the set of the coherence distances into an overall coherence degree Φ i     1     i     2    for each of the available software components includes using an equation 
       
         
           
             
               
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       where k is 2, m is a number of dimensions. 
     
     
         10 - 20 . (canceled)