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ISML-MDE: A practical experience of implementing a model driven environment in a software development organization

Maria Consuelo Franky (Dpto. de Ingeniería de Sistemas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia)
Jaime A. Pavlich-Mariscal (Dpto. de Ingeniería de Sistemas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia)
Maria Catalina Acero (Heinsohn Business Technology, Bogota, Colombia)
Angee Zambrano (Heinsohn Business Technology, Bogota, Colombia)
John C. Olarte (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia)
Jorge Camargo (Heinsohn Business Technology, Bogota, Colombia)
Nicolás Pinzón (Heinsohn Business Technology, Bogota, Colombia)

International Journal of Web Information Systems

ISSN: 1744-0084

Publication date: 7 November 2016

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to present ISML-MDE, a model-driven environment that includes ISML, a platform-independent modeling language for enterprise applications; ISML-GEN, a code generation framework to automatically generate code from models; and LionWizard, a tool to automatically integrate different components into a unified codebase.

Design/methodology/approach

The development comprises five stages: standardizing architecture; refactoring and adapting existing components; automating their integration; developing a modeling language; and creating code generators. After development, model-to-code ratios in ISML-MDE are measured for different applications.

Findings

The average model-to-code ratio is approximately 1:4.6 when using the code generators from arbitrary models. If a model transformation is performed previously to the code generation, this ratio raises to 1:115. The current validation efforts show that ISML properly supports several DSL essential characteristics described by Kahraman and Bilgen (2015).

Research limitations/implications

ISML-MDE was tested on relatively small applications. Further validation of the approach requires measurement of development times and their comparison with previous similar projects, to determine the gains in productivity.

Originality/value

The value of ISML-MDE can be summarized as follows: ISML-MDE has the potential to significantly reduce development times, because of an adequate use of models and transformations. The design of ISML-MDE addresses real-world development requirements, obtained from a tight interaction between the researchers and the software development company. The underlying process has been thoroughly documented and it is believed it can be used as a reference for future developments of MDE tools under similar conditions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This article is part of the Project “Desarrollo de nuevos métodos y tecnologías para acelerar la construcción de software: Un enfoque basado en modelos y frameworks de generación avanzados”, executed by the SIDRe research group of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Heinsohn Business Technology, co-financed by Colciencias: 1,203-562-37822.

Citation

Franky, M., Pavlich-Mariscal, J., Acero, M., Zambrano, A., Olarte, J., Camargo, J. and Pinzón, N. (2016), "ISML-MDE: A practical experience of implementing a model driven environment in a software development organization", International Journal of Web Information Systems, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 533-556. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWIS-04-2016-0025

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Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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