Software Architecture Reconstruction for Microservice Systems using Static Analysis via GraalVM Native Image

Microservices are the mainstream architecture when designing cloud-native
systems. The performance and elastic scalability of such systems are the main
attraction for many vendors. Recent advancements improving microservice
initialization times are related to the ahead-of-time compilation, which produces
self-contained executables, significantly reducing load times.
Despite recent advancements and various benefits of cloud-native systems, the
evolution of such systems might be threatened by a~missing system-centered view.
Such a~view would guide in a~better contextual understanding of individual
microservices and their dependencies from the holistic system perspective and aid
developers in informed decisions to mitigate ripple effects. One way literature
has addressed this gap is by performing Software Architecture Reconstruction
(SAR), a process essential for understanding, maintaining, and evolving software
systems. This paper questions whether instruments used to produce self-contained
executables for microservices can be utilized for SAR, producing system-centered
views. We propose a methodology for such a process, implement a proof of concept
tool, MicroGraal, for the Java Platform, and assess it through a case study
involving a third-party microservice system benchmark. We uncovered a system
service dependency graph and a context map, comparing the approach and obtained
results with source code analysis.