Is source code the correct level of abstraction?
Model Driven Engineering
Agenda
Definition
Models as the central artifact of software development
Documentation
Code generation
Reverse engineering
Model checking
Model-based testing
Language engineering
Executable models
Models at runtime
Model-driven interoperability
Model transformation
Agenda
Context
Modern Software Problems (1/2)
Modern Software Problems (2/2)
Increasing complexity (1/2)
Increasing complexity (2/2)
Technology evolution (1/2)
| ’70 | ’80 | ’90 |
|---|---|---|
Structured programming | Objects | Components |
Procedures, Pascal, C | Smalltalk, C++ | Aspects, Components, Software Frameworks, Software Patterns |
Figure 1. Time
Technology evolution (2/2)
| '00 | '10 |
|---|---|
Services | Low Code & No Code Approaches |
Javascript, Artifact Repositories | Microsoft PowerApps, Google AppSheet, Mendix |
Figure 2. Time
Design Patterns
From Objects to Components
Aspect Oriented Programming
Good modularity
XML parsing in org.apache.tomcat
red shows relevant lines of code
nicely fits in one box
Tomcat
URL pattern matching in org.apache.tomcat
red shows relevant lines of code
nicely fits in two boxes (using inheritance)
However
Logging in org.apache.tomcat
red shows lines of code that handle logging
not in just one place
not even in a small number of places
AspectJ
Low and No Code Approaches
In short
Agenda
Defintion
Why?
In Short
Models in Science
Description of a real phenomenon (descriptive models).
Models in Traditional Engineering
Figure 3. Example by Brian Selic
A reduced representation of some system that highlights the properties of interest from a given viewpoint.
Description of something in order to build it (prescriptive models).
Properties of a Useful Model
Models in Software Engineering
Entity-Relationship Model
Figure 4. [Chen ’76]
Database modeling method, used to produce a type of conceptual schema or semantic data model of a system, often a relational database, and its requirements in a top-down fashion.
Data-Flow Diagrams
Figure 5. [Constantine & Yourdon ’75]
Graphical representation of a flow of data through an information system.
Petri Nets
Early seventies
Figure 6. Mathematical modeling language for the description of distributed systems
State Diagrams [Booth ’67]
Describes the behavior of a system in terms of states.
UML [Los 3 amigos ’96]
KAOS (Goal-Directed Requirements Acquisition) [Dardenne ’93]
ORM (Object-Role Model) [Halpin ’89]
Representation of the semantics of a universe of discourse. ORM is often used for data modeling and software engineering.
Feature Models [Kang ’90]
Compact representation of all the products of the Software Product Line (SPL) in terms of ``features''.
Agenda
Language
Example: The UML Syntax
Example: The UML Semantics
Language Syntax
Abstract Syntax: Concepts and Links
- Concepts
Class, Association, Attribute, Operation/Method, etc.
- Links
Class contains Attributes, Class contains Operations, Association from Class, Association to Class
Concrete Syntax: Visual Representation
Example: Several Concrete Syntaxes for the same Abstract Syntax
Example: UML concrete syntax
class "Order" {
class "Sales Line Item"
feature: Attribute "title" {
visibility: "public"
isSpecification: false
type: "String"
}
feature: Operation calculateTax() {
visibility: "public"
}
}
}Human-Usable Textual Notation (HUTN): Textual concrete syntax for any modeling language specified in MOF.
Agenda
Definitions
Remark
Meta-model
Meta-Modeling Language
MOF - Meta Object Facility
MOF
Modeling Techniques at OMG: 3 steps
Example: UML abstract syntax
Example: DFD - Data Flow Diagram (Yourdon)
DFD meta-model, expressed in OPPR [Lyytinen 94]
