Revisiting visitors for modular extension of executable DSMLs

Executable Domain-Specific Modeling Languages (xDSMLs) are typically defined by metamodels that specify their abstract syntax, and model interpreters or compilers that define their execution semantics. To face the proliferation of xDSMLs in many domains, it is important to provide language engineering facilities for opportunistic reuse, extension, and customization of existing xDSMLs to ease the definition of new ones. Current approaches to language reuse either require to anticipate reuse, make use of advanced features that are not widely available in programming languages, or are not directly applicable to metamodel-based xDSMLs. In this paper, we propose a new language implementation pattern, named Revisitor, that enables independent extensibility of the syntax and semantics of metamodel-based xDSMLs with incremental compilation and without anticipation. We seamlessly implement our approach alongside the compilation chain of the Eclipse Modeling Framework, thereby demonstrating that it is directly and broadly applicable in various modeling environments. We show how it can be employed to incrementally extend both the syntax and semantics of the fUML language without requiring anticipation or re-compilation of existing code, and with acceptable performance penalty compared to classical handmade visitors

Assessing composition in modeling approaches

Modeling approaches are based on various paradigms, e.g., aspect-oriented, feature-oriented, object-oriented, and logic-based. Modeling approaches may cover requirements models to low-level design models, are developed for various purposes, use various means of composition, and thus are difficult to compare. However, such comparisons are critical to help practitioners know under which conditions approaches are most applicable, and how they might be successfully generalized and combined to achieve end-to-end methods. This paper reports on work done at the 2nd International Comparing Modeling Approaches (CMA) workshop towards the goal of identifying potential comprehensive modeling methodologies with a particular emphasis on composition: (i) an improved set of comparison criteria; (ii) 19 assessments of modeling approaches based on the comparison criteria and a common, focused case study

GlobalDSL '13: Proceedings of the First Workshop on the Globalization of Domain Specific Languages

International audienc

Using Slicing to Improve the Performance of Model Invariant Checking

International audienc

Globalizing Modeling Languages

International audienceIn the software and systems modeling community, research on domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) is focused on providing technologies for developing languages and tools that allow domain experts to develop system solutions efficiently. Unfortunately, the current lack of support for explicitly relating concepts expressed in different DSMLs makes it very difficult for software and system engineers to reason about information spread across models describing different system aspects. Supporting coordinated use of DSMLs leads to what we call the globalization of modeling languages. This article presents a research initiative that broadens the DSML research focus beyond the development of independent DSMLs to one that supports globalized DSMLs, that is, DSMLs that facilitate coordination of work across different domains of expertise

Globalizing Domain-Specific Languages (Dagstuhl Seminar 14412)

This report documents the program and the outcomes of the Dagstuhl Seminar 14412 "Globalizing Domain-Specific Languages" held in October 2014. Complex, data-intensive, cyper-physical, cloud-based etc. systems need effective modeling techniques, preferably based on DSLs to describe aspects and views. Models written in heterogeneous languages however need to be semantically compatible and their supporting individual tools need to be interoperable. This workshop discusses possible and necessary forms of interoperation their benefits and drawbacks and in particular whether there is a general pattern on coordination, composition and interoperation possible. Main goal was to establish a research programme towards such techniques

Globalizing Domain-Specific Languages

International audienc