Adoption Of Model-Driven Engineering Research Articles

The rCOS framework for multi-dimensional separation of concerns in model-driven engineering

The rCOS framework for multi-dimensional separation of concerns in model-driven engineering

Model‐driven engineering for simulation models interoperability: A case study in space industry

AbstractModeling and simulation represent an essential part of overall systems engineering. Complex engineering systems are composed of many heterogeneous components often modeled and simulated employing different languages and environments, and often by different organizations; thus, demands for interoperability are getting increased. Model‐driven engineering (MDE) has been demonstrated to be an advancement in software engineering: existing software in several domains today benefits from abstraction and automation during the system development process. Although these techniques are now highly advanced, many industries may require considerable effort before fully benefiting from them. This article reports on a case study carried out for 12 months within a company in the space industry domain. The goal of this empirical study is to investigate the adoption of MDE in supporting simulation models interoperability. The article identifies factors considered important for MDE adoption as well as obstacles that can be encountered in a real case. Researchers and practitioners may benefit from our findings typically when reusing models across different simulation environments, exchanging simulation models between different stakeholders, and seeking to improve simulation modeling practices.

Using DevOps toolchains in Agile model-driven engineering

For model-driven engineering (MDE) to become more Agile, the community needs to embrace development and operations (DevOps) practices. One of the core practices of DevOps is the use of pipelines to enable CI/CD to make teams more Agile and break down the barriers between development and operations with faster deployments. Current MDE tooling is not designed at its core to participate in DevOps pipelines. Consequently this makes the adoption of MDE in industry more difficult. In this article, we cover an industrial experience report describing how we enabled our pipelines using DevOps and MDE.

Empirical Assessment of the Quality of MVC Web Applications Returned by xGenerator

Many scholars have reported that the adoption of Model Driven Engineering (MDE) in the industry is still marginal. Real-life case studies, completed with convincing empirical data about the quality of the developed source code, is an effective way to persuade the industry that the adoption of MDE brings an actual added value. This paper reports about the assessment of the quality of the code outputted by xGenerator: a Java technology platform for the development of enterprise Web applications, which implements the MDE paradigm. Two recent papers from Aniche and his colleagues were selected to carry out the measurements. The former study is about metrics and thresholds for MVC Web applications, while the latter presents a catalog of six smells tailored to MVC Web applications. A big merit of both of these proposals is that they fix the metric thresholds by taking into account the MVC software architecture. The results of the empirical assessment, carried out on a real-life project, proved that the quality of the code is high.

A tool to support the definition and enactment of model-driven migration processes

A tool to ease the implementation of MDE-based migration processes is presented.Enactment of MDE-based migration process models is supported.When process models are enacted, manual tasks are added to a task management tool.Lack of enactment of SPEM is overcome with a DSL for defining migration processes.Open source tools (e.g. Mylyn) are used to manage manual tasks in MDE processes. One of the main challenges to achieve the industrial adoption of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) paradigm is building tools able to support model-driven software processes. We present a tool for the definition and enactment of model-driven migration processes. We have created a SPEM-based language for defining Abstract Migration models that represent an MDE migration solution for a particular pair of source and target technologies. For each legacy application to be migrated, the Abstract Migration model is transformed into a Concrete Migration model which contains all the information needed for the enactment. Then, these models are enacted by means of a process interpreter which generates Trac tickets for executing automated tasks by means of Ant scripts and managing manual tasks with the Mylyn tool.Our work has therefore two main contributions: i) it proposes a novel solution for the enactment that integrates the execution of the automated tasks with the generation of tickets to support the manual tasks, and ii) it describes how MDE techniques can be used to implement process engineering tools, in particular migration processes. The article presents the approach and describes in detail the essential aspects of our tool.

A taxonomy of tool-related issues affecting the adoption of model-driven engineering

Although poor tool support is often blamed for the low uptake of model-driven engineering (MDE), recent studies have shown that adoption problems are as likely to be down to social and organizational factors as with tooling issues. This article discusses the impact of tools on MDE adoption and practice and does so while placing tooling within a broader organizational context. The article revisits previous data on MDE use in industry (19 in-depth interviews with MDE practitioners) and reanalyzes that data through the specific lens of MDE tools in an attempt to identify and categorize the issues that users had with the tools they adopted. In addition, the article presents new data: 20 new interviews in two specific companies--and analyzes it through the same lens. A key contribution of the paper is a loose taxonomy of tool-related considerations, based on empirical industry data, which can be used to reflect on the tooling landscape as well as inform future research on MDE tools.

Towards the flexible reuse of model transformations: A formal approach based on graph transformation

Model transformations are the heart and soul of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). However, in order to increase the adoption of MDE by industry, techniques for developing model transformations in the large and raising the quality and productivity in their construction, like reusability, are still needed. In previous works, we developed a reutilization approach for graph transformations based on the definition of concepts , which gather the structural requirements needed by meta-models to qualify for the transformations. Reusable transformations are typed by concepts, becoming transformation templates . Transformation templates are instantiated by binding the concept to a concrete meta-model, inducing a retyping of the transformation for the given meta-model. This paper extends the approach allowing heterogeneities between the concept and the meta-model, thus increasing the reuse opportunities of transformation templates. Heterogeneities are resolved by using algebraic adapters which induce both a retyping and an adaptation of the transformation. As an alternative, the adapters can also be employed to induce an adaptation of the meta-model, and in this work we show the conditions for equivalence of both approaches to transformation reuse. • We present an approach for the flexible, safe reuse of model transformations. • The approach is based on graph transformation and category theory. • Transformations are defined over “concepts”, becoming templates. • Templates are instantiated by mapping concepts to meta-models via adapters. • Instantiation is realized either by meta-model or transformation adaptation.

Assessing a Model-Driven Web-Application Engineering Approach

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) by reframing software development as the transformation of high-level models, promises lots of gains to Software Engineering in terms of productivity, quality and reusability. Although a number of empirical studies have established the reality of these gains, there are still lots of reluctances toward the adoption of MDE in practice. This resistance can be explained by several technological and social factors among which a natural scepticism toward novel approaches. In this paper we attempt to provide arguments to help alleviate this scepticism by conducting an assessment of a MDE approach. Our goal is to show that although this MDE is novel, it retains similarities with the conventional Software Engineering approach while automating aspects of it.

Example-driven meta-model development

The intensive use of models in model-driven engineering (MDE) raises the need to develop meta-models with different aims, such as the construction of textual and visual modelling languages and the specification of source and target ends of model-to-model transformations. While domain experts have the knowledge about the concepts of the domain, they usually lack the skills to build meta-models. Moreover, meta-models typically need to be tailored according to their future usage and specific implementation platform, which demands knowledge available only to engineers with great expertise in specific MDE platforms. These issues hinder a wider adoption of MDE both by domain experts and software engineers. In order to alleviate this situation, we propose an interactive, iterative approach to meta-model construction, enabling the specification of example model fragments by domain experts, with the possibility of using informal drawing tools like Dia or yED. These fragments can be annotated with hints about the intention or needs for certain elements. A meta-model is then automatically induced, which can be refactored in an interactive way, and then compiled into an implementation meta-model using profiles and patterns for different platforms and purposes. Our approach includes the use of a virtual assistant, which provides suggestions for improving the meta-model based on well-known refactorings, and a validation mode, enabling the validation of the meta-model by means of examples.

Applying model-driven engineering in small software enterprises

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is increasingly gaining acceptance in the software engineering community, however its adoption by the industry is far from successful. The number of companies applying MDE is still very limited. Although several case studies and reports have been published on MDE adoption in large companies, experience reports on small enterprises are still rare, despite the fact that they represent a large part of the software companies ecosystem. In this paper we report on our practical experience in two transfer of technology projects on two small companies. In order to determine the degree of success of these projects we present some factors that have to be taken into account in transfer of technology projects. Then, we assess both projects analyzing these factors and applying some metrics to give hints about the potential productivity gains that MDE could bring. We also comment on some lessons learned. These experiences suggest that MDE has the potential to make small companies more competitive, because it enables them to build powerful automation tools at modest cost. We will also present the approach followed to train these companies in MDE, and we contribute the teaching material so that it can be used or adapted by others projects of this nature. • Description of two MDE projects carried out in two small companies. • Metrics show productivity gains. • The selection of the pilot project is a key issue. • To foster adoption the research team must advice the company about new developments.

An empirical study of the state of the practice and acceptance of model-driven engineering in four industrial cases

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) has been promoted for many years as a means for handling the complexity of software development by raising the abstraction level and automating labor-intensive and error-prone tasks. However, there is little empirical evidence of the acceptance of MDE in industry which is the subject of this paper. The goal of this empirical study was to investigate the state of the practice of applying MDE and factors considered as important for its adoption. The subjects were developers of four large companies participating in a research project. The collected data came from multiple sources and covered the results of tool evaluations, interviews, and a survey. Among the factors, we found perceived usefulness, ease of use and the maturity of the tools to be important determinants for the adoption of MDE. We also discuss challenges with adopting MDE and present suggestions on how to succeed with the adoption process.

Where does model-driven engineering help? Experiences from three industrial cases

There have been few experience reports from industry on how Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is applied and what the benefits are. This paper summarizes the experiences of three large industrial participants in a European research project with the objective of developing techniques and tools for applying MDE on the development of large and complex software systems. The participants had varying degrees of previous experience with MDE. They found MDE to be particularly useful for providing abstractions of complex systems at multiple levels or from different viewpoints, for the development of domain-specific models that facilitate communication with non-technical experts, for the purposes of simulation and testing, and for the consumption of models for analysis, such as performance-related decision support and system design improvements. From the industrial perspective, a methodology is considered to be useful and cost-efficient if it is possible to reuse solutions in multiple projects or products. However, developing reusable solutions required extra effort and sometimes had a negative impact on the performance of tools. While the companies identified several benefits of MDE, merging different tools with one another in a seamless development environment required several transformations, which increased the required implementation effort and complexity. Additionally, user-friendliness of tools and the provision of features for managing models of complex systems were identified as crucial for a wider industrial adoption of MDE.

Managing the evolution of data-intensive Web applications by model-driven techniques

The adoption of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) in the development of Web Applications permitted to decouple the functional description of applications from the underlying implementation platform. This is of paramount relevance for preserving the intellectual property encoded in models and making applications, languages and processes resilient to technological changes. This paper proposes a model-driven approach for supporting the migration and evolution of data-intensive Web applications. In particular, model differencing techniques are considered to realize a migration facility capable of detecting the modifications a model underwent during its lifecycle and to automatically derive from them the programs that are capable of migrating/adapting also those aspects which are not directly derivable from the source models, as for instance the data persistently stored in a database and the page layout usually written using graphic templates. The approach is validated by considering applications described with the beContent and WebML modeling languages.