Enforcing layered architecture in Java

Question

Given a software system written in Java consisting of three layers, A -> B -> C, i.e. layer A uses layer B and B uses layer C.

I want to make sure that a class of one layer only has access only to classes of the same layer or its direct dependency, i.e. B should be able to access C but not A. Also A should be able to access B but not C.

Is there an easy way to enforce such a restriction? Ideally I want eclipse to complain at once if one tries to access a class of the wrong layer.

The software currently uses maven. Therefore I tried to put A, B, and C into different maven modules and to declare dependencies properly. This works fine to prevent B to access A, but does not prevent A to access C.

Next I tried to exclude C from the dependency to B. This now also prevents access from A to C. However now I am no longer able to use copy-dependencies to collect all transitive dependencies needed for run time.

Is there a good way that allows me a clean separation of layers, but also allows me to collect all needed runtime dependencies?

Answer 1

in maven you can use the maven-macker-plugin as following example:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>de.andrena.tools.macker</groupId>
            <artifactId>macker-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.2</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>compile</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>macker</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

and here is an example macker-rules.xml example file: (put it on the same level as your pom.xml)

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<macker>

    <ruleset name="Layering rules">
        <var name="base" value="org.example" />

        <pattern name="appl" class="${base}.**" />
        <pattern name="common" class="${base}.common.**" />
        <pattern name="persistence" class="${base}.persistence.**" />
        <pattern name="business" class="${base}.business.**" />
        <pattern name="web" class="${base}.web.**" />

        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <!-- Common -->
        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <access-rule>
            <message>zugriff auf common; von überall gestattet</message>
            <deny>
                <to pattern="common" />
                <allow>
                    <from>
                        <include pattern="appl" />
                    </from>
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <!-- Persistence -->
        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <access-rule>
            <message>zugriff auf persistence; von web und business gestattet</message>
            <deny>
                <to pattern="persistence" />
                <allow>
                    <from>
                        <include pattern="persistence" />
                        <include pattern="web" />
                        <include pattern="business" />
                    </from>
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <!-- Business -->
        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <access-rule>
            <message>zugriff auf business; nur von web gestattet</message>
            <deny>
                <to pattern="business" />
                <allow>
                    <from>
                        <include pattern="business" />
                        <include pattern="web" />
                    </from>
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <!-- Web -->
        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <access-rule>
            <message>zugriff auf web; von nirgends gestattet</message>
            <deny>
                <to pattern="web" />
                <allow>
                    <from>
                        <include pattern="web" />
                    </from>
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <!-- Libraries gebunden an ein spezifisches Modul -->
        <!-- =============================================================== -->
        <access-rule>
            <message>nur in web erlaubt</message>
            <deny>
                <to>
                    <include class="javax.faces.**" />
                    <include class="javax.servlet.**" />
                    <include class="javax.ws.*" />
                    <include class="javax.enterprise.*" />
                </to>
                <allow>
                    <from pattern="web" />
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

        <access-rule>
            <message>nur in business und persistence erlaubt</message>
            <deny>
                <to>
                    <include class="javax.ejb.**" />
                    <include class="java.sql.**" />
                    <include class="javax.sql.**" />
                    <include class="javax.persistence.**" />
                </to>
                <allow>
                    <from>
                        <include pattern="business" />
                        <include pattern="persistence" />
                    </from>
                </allow>
            </deny>
        </access-rule>

    </ruleset>

</macker>

and in a simple multi module maven project simply put the macker-rules.xml in a central place and point to the directory where it is stored. then you need to configure the plugin in your parent pom.xml

<build>
    <pluginManagement>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>de.andrena.tools.macker</groupId>
                <artifactId>macker-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.0.2</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>macker</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <rulesDirectory>../</rulesDirectory>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </pluginManagement>
</build>

Answer 2

If I was you I would do the following steps:

• For each layer create two modules. One for interfaces another for the implementation.
• Do a proper maven dependency avoiding transitive dependencies.
• Install Sonargraph-Architect plugin in eclipse. It will let you to configure your layer rules.