Applied Metamodelling: A Foundation for Language Driven Development (Third Edition)

TL;DR

This paper discusses how a unified approach to language-driven development, based on applied metamodelling, can address the increasing complexity and diversity of modern system development.

Contribution

It introduces a foundational framework for language-driven development using metamodelling to manage complexity and technological diversity.

Findings

Languages serve as a unifying foundation for system development.

Metamodelling provides abstractions that encapsulate complexity.

The approach supports integration of modern and legacy systems.

Abstract

Modern day system developers have some serious problems to contend with. The systems they develop are becoming increasingly complex as customers demand richer functionality delivered in ever shorter timescales. They have to manage a huge diversity of implementation technologies, design techniques and development processes: everything from scripting languages to web-services to the latest 'silver bullet' design abstraction. To add to that, nothing stays still: today's 'must have' technology rapidly becomes tomorrow's legacy problem that must be managed along with everything else. How can these problems be dealt with? In this book we propose that there is a common foundation to their resolution: languages. Languages are the primary way in which system developers communicate, design and implement systems. Languages provide abstractions that can encapsulate complexity, embrace the diversity of technologies and design abstractions, and unite modern and legacy systems.