The Technical Foundation of the GeneSEZ MDSD Approach

Abstract

Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) is highly regarded and already used in industry. Several approaches exist which use UML (Unified Modeling Language), DSLs (Domain Specific Languages) or other meta models. One weakness of these approaches is the use or complexity of the meta model used to model the application within the whole MDSD process. This restricts the reusability of model transformations in case of another meta model. The GeneSEZ approach targets this problem by introducing a separate meta model for the MDSD process. Decoupling the meta models used during modeling and within model transformations leads to a fixed back-end of the MDSD process consisting of reusable model transformations for code generation resulting in a higher benefit of model driven approaches. Models created by different modeling tools with different meta models can reuse the same model transformations increasing the return of invest of these model transformations. The GeneSEZ approach is a pragmatic model driven approach and evolved through the experience gained by applying it to several industry projects.