Model-Driven Software Development Using a Metamodel-Based Extension Mechanism for UML

Software development is inherently difficult because of the complexity of the task and the high level of change that occurs during its lifecycle. Attempts to solve these problems have raised the level of abstraction dramatically. Nevertheless, recent propositions have generated much skepticism. Approaches such as visual languages or CASE tools have not fundamentally changed the state of the practice in software development, mostly due to the cost involved in producing the code generation modules. In this book, this problem is analyzed and a new extension mechanism for UML is presented. More suitable than UML Profiles to allow the creation of hierarchical domain extensions, it can be used to facilitate domain-specific model-driven development and thus reduce the total development cost. This book is both an introduction to the core concepts of metamodeling and a detailed analysis of the inherent weaknesses of the light-weight UML Profile extension mechanism. A new, hierarchical solution for UML extensions called OMEGA is proposed and explained using an example from the Web Application domain.

Autorentext

The Author: Ralf Gitzel was born in 1975 in Munich. He studied Business Information Systems in Mannheim, participating in the exchange program with the University of Waterloo, Canada. He achieved his degree as Diplom-Wirtschaftsinformatiker in the year 2000. From 2001 to 2005 he worked at the Department of Information Systems of the University of Mannheim. His research interests include model-driven software development and Web applications.

Inhalt
Contents: Metamodeling Hierarchies Model-Driven Development An Analysis of the Web Application Domain The OMEGA Approach.