European conference on Model driven architecture-foundations and applications 

About: European conference on Model driven architecture-foundations and applications is an academic conference. The conference publishes majorly in the area(s): Software development & Unified Modeling Language. Over the lifetime, 141 publications have been published by the conference receiving 4806 citations.

The epsilon object language (EOL)

Abstract: Model-Driven Development requires model management languages and tools for supporting model operations such as editing, consistency checking, and transformation. At the core of these model management techniques is a set of facilities for model navigation and modification. A subset of the Object Constraint Language can be used for some of these tasks, but it has limitations as a general-purpose language to be used in a variety of model management tasks. We present the metamodel independent Epsilon Object Language (EOL) which builds on OCL. EOL can be used both as a standalone generic model management language or as infrastructure on which task-specific languages can be built. We describe how it has been used to construct a selection of languages, such as model merging, comparison, and text generation languages.

Where Is the Proof? - A Review of Experiences from Applying MDE in Industry

Abstract: Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) has been promoted as a solution to handle the complexity of software development by raising the abstraction level and automating labor-intensive and error-prone tasks. However, few efforts have been made at collecting evidence to evaluate its benefits and limitations, which is the subject of this review. We searched several publication channels in the period 2000 to June 2007 for empirical studies on applying MDE in industry, which produced 25 papers for the review. Our findings include industry motivations for investigating MDE and the different domains it has been applied to. In most cases the maturity of third-party tool environments is still perceived as unsatisfactory for large-scale industrial adoption. We found reports of improvements in software quality and of both productivity gains and losses, but these reports were mainly from small-scale studies. There are a few reports on advantages of applying MDE in larger projects, however, more empirical studies and detailed data are needed to strengthen the evidence. We conclude that there is too little evidence to allow generalization of the results at this stage.

On the Use of Higher-Order Model Transformations

Abstract: The level of maturity that has been reached by model transformation technologies is proved by the growing literature on transformation libraries that address an increasingly wide spectrum of applications. With the success of the modeling and transformation paradigm, the need arises to address more complex applications that require a direct manipulation of model transformations. The uniformity and flexibility of the model-driven paradigm allows this class of applications to make use of the same transformation infrastructure. This is possible because transformations can be translated into transformation models and given as objects to a different class of model transformations, called Higher-Order Transformations (HOT). This paper provides an introduction to HOTs and a survey of the several application cases where their use is relevant. A number of possible future applications of HOTs is also proposed.

The Epsilon Generation Language

Abstract: We present the Epsilon Generation Language (EGL), a model-to-text (M2T) transformation language that is a component in a model management tool chain. The distinctive features of EGL are described, in particular its novel design which inherits a number of language concepts and logical features from a base model navigation and modification language. The value of being able to use a M2T language as part of an extensible model management tool chain is outlined in a case study, and EGL is compared to other M2T languages.

Derivation and Refinement of Textual Syntax for Models

Abstract: Textual Syntax (TS) as a form of model representation has made its way to the Model-Driven Software Development community and is considered a viable alternative to graphical representations. To support the design and implementation of text editing facilities many concrete syntax and model mapping tools have emerged. Despite the maturity of these tools, users still spend considerable effort to specify syntaxes and generate editors even for simple metamodels. To reduce this effort, we propose to refine a specification that is automatically derived from a given metamodel. We argue that defaults in a customisable setting enable developers to quickly realise text-based editors for models. In particular in settings where metamodels evolve, such a procedure is beneficial. To evaluate this idea we present EMFText [1], an EMF/Eclipse integrated tool for agile Textual Syntax (TS) development. We show how default syntax can easily be tailored and refined to obtain a custom text editor for EMF models and demonstrate our approach by two examples.