Model-driven engineering (MDE) is a

software development methodology In software engineering, a software development process or software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process of planning and managing software development. It typically involves dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or s ...

that focuses on creating and exploiting

domain model In software engineering, a domain model is a conceptual model of the domain (software engineering), domain that incorporates both behavior and data.Fowler, Martin. "P of EAA - Domain Model"/ref> In ontology engineering, a domain model is a Knowl ...

s, which are conceptual models of all the topics related to a specific problem. Hence, it highlights and aims at abstract representations of the

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

and activities that govern a particular

application domain An application domain is a mechanism (similar to a process in an operating system) used within the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) to isolate executed software applications from one another so that they do not affect each other. Each applicat ...

, rather than the computing (i.e. algorithmic) concepts. MDE is a subfield of a

software design Software design is the process of conceptualizing how a software system will work before it is implemented or modified. Software design also refers to the direct result of the design process the concepts of how the software will work which co ...

approach referred as round-trip engineering. The scope of the MDE is much wider than that of the Model-Driven Architecture.

Overview

The MDE approach is meant to increase productivity by maximizing compatibility between systems (via reuse of standardized models), simplifying the process of design (via models of recurring design patterns in the application domain), and promoting communication between individuals and teams working on the system (via a standardization of the terminology and the

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to alternatives because it tends to produce superior results. Best practices are used to achieve quality as an alternative to mandatory standards. Best practice ...

s used in the application domain). For instance, in model-driven development, technical artifacts such as source code, documentation, tests, and more are generated algorithmically from a domain model. A modeling paradigm for MDE is considered effective if its models make sense from the point of view of a user that is familiar with the domain, and if they can serve as a basis for implementing systems. The models are developed through extensive communication among product managers, designers, developers and users of the application domain. As the models approach completion, they enable the development of software and systems. Some of the better known MDE initiatives are: * The

Object Management Group The Object Management Group (OMG®) is a computer industry Standards Development Organization (SDO), or Voluntary Consensus Standards Body (VCSB). OMG develops enterprise integration and modeling standards for a range of technologies. Busin ...

(OMG) initiative Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) which is leveraged by several of their standards such as

Meta-Object Facility The Meta-Object Facility (MOF) is an Object Management Group (OMG) standard for model-driven engineering. Its purpose is to provide a type system for entities in the CORBA architecture and a set of interfaces through which those types can be cre ...

, XMI, CWM,

CORBA The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a standard defined by the Object Management Group (OMG) designed to facilitate the communication of systems that are deployed on diverse platforms. CORBA enables collaboration between sy ...

Unified Modeling Language The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose visual modeling language that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system. UML provides a standard notation for many types of diagrams which can be roughly ...

(to be more precise, the OMG currently promotes the use of a subset of UML called fUML together with its action language, ALF, for model-driven architecture; a former approach relied on Executable UML and OCL, instead), and QVT. * The

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

"eco-system" of programming and modelling tools represented in general terms by the ( Eclipse Modeling Framework). This framework allows the creation of tools implementing the MDA standards of the OMG; but, it is also possible to use it to implement other modeling-related tools.

History

The first tools to support MDE were the Computer-Aided Software Engineering (

CASE Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

) tools developed in the 1980s. Companies like Integrated Development Environments (IDE – StP), Higher Order Software (now Hamilton Technologies, Inc., HTI), Cadre Technologies, Bachman Information Systems, and Logic Works (BP-Win and ER-Win) were pioneers in the field. The US government got involved in the modeling definitions creating the IDEF specifications. With several variations of the modeling definitions (see Booch, Rumbaugh, Jacobson, Gane and Sarson, Harel, Shlaer and Mellor, and others) they were eventually joined creating the

(UML). Rational Rose, a product for UML implementation, was done by Rational Corporation (Booch) responding automation yield higher levels of abstraction in software development. This abstraction promotes simpler models with a greater focus on problem space. Combined with executable semantics this elevates the total level of automation possible. The

(OMG) has developed a set of standards called Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), building a foundation for this advanced architecture-focused approach.

Advantages

According to Douglas C. Schmidt, model-driven engineering technologies offer a promising approach to address the inability of third-generation languages to alleviate the complexity of platforms and express domain concepts effectively., ''"A promising approach to address platform complexity—and the inability of third-generation languages to alleviate this complexity and express domain concepts effectively—is to develop Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) technologies..."''

Tools

Notable software tools for model-driven engineering include: * AADL from Carnegie-Mellon Software Engineering Institute * Acceleo an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

code generator from Obeo * Actifsource * AgileUML an open source MDE toolset from AgileMDE Ltd * Ash Framework an open source Elixir-based declarative application framework * ATLAS Transformation Language or ATL, a model transformation language from Obeo * DUALLy, an MDE framework to create interoperability * Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) * Enterprise Architect from Sparx Systems * eTrice an open source implementation of the Real-Time Object-Oriented Modeling standard *

Generic Eclipse Modeling System Generic Eclipse Modeling System (GEMS) is a configurable toolkit for creating domain-specific modeling and program synthesis environments for Eclipse. The project aims to bridge the gap between the communities experienced with visual metamodeling ...

(GEMS) * GeneXus a

-based, declarative, multi-platform, multi-language development solution *

Graphical Modeling Framework The Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF) is a framework within the Eclipse platform. It provides a generative component and runtime infrastructure for developing graphical editors based on the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) and Graphical Edit ...

(GMF) *

JetBrains MPS JetBrains MPS (Meta Programming System) is a language workbench developed by JetBrains. MPS is a tool to design domain-specific languages (DSL). It uses projectional editing which allows users to overcome the limits of language parsers, and bui ...

, a

metaprogramming Metaprogramming is a computer programming technique in which computer programs have the ability to treat other programs as their data. It means that a program can be designed to read, generate, analyse, or transform other programs, and even modi ...

system from

JetBrains JetBrains s.r.o. (formerly IntelliJ Software s.r.o.) is a Czech software development private limited company which makes tools for software developers and project managers. The company has its headquarters in Amsterdam, and has offices in Ch ...

* MagicDraw from No Magic Inc * MERODE JMermaid from KU Leuven (educational) * MetaEdit+ from MetaCase * ModelCenter from Phoenix Integration * Open ModelSphere * OptimalJ from Compuware * PREEvision from Vector Informatik * Rhapsody from

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

* PowerDesigner from SAP *

Simulink Simulink is a MATLAB-based graphical programming environment for modeling, simulating and analyzing multidomain dynamical systems. Its primary interface is a graphical block diagramming tool and a customizable set of block libraries. It offe ...

from

MathWorks The MathWorks, Inc. is an American privately held corporation that specializes in mathematical computing software. Its major products include MATLAB and Simulink, which support data analysis and simulation. History MATLAB was created in the 1 ...

* Software Ideas Modeler from Dusan Rodina *

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

an Eclipse open source project to create custom graphical modeling workbenches * Together Architect from

Borland Borland Software Corporation was a computing technology company founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad, and Philippe Kahn. Its main business was developing and selling software development and software deployment products. B ...

* Umbrello by KDE * Umple from the University of Ottawa *

Uniface In archaeology, a uniface is a specific type of stone tool that has been flaked on one surface only. There are two general classes of uniface tools: modified flakes and formalized tools, which display deliberate, systematic modification of the margi ...

from Compuware * YAKINDU Statechart Tools open source tool build on top of

References

External links

''Model-Driven Architecture: Vision, Standards And Emerging Technologies''
at omg.org {{Software engineering Systems engineering Unified Modeling Language