Modelldrivna

Modelldrivna is a software engineering paradigm that treats models as the primary artifacts of the development process, with software components, tests, and documentation generated from these models. The term is Swedish for model-driven approaches, corresponding to the English model-driven engineering (MDE).

Origin and scope: The concept stems from Model-Driven Engineering and Model-Driven Architecture, and has been adopted in both academia and industry to improve abstraction, automation, and traceability throughout the software lifecycle. It emphasizes creating platform-agnostic models that can be transformed into platform-specific implementations.

Workflow and techniques: A typical modelldriven workflow starts with domain knowledge captured in a meta-model. Transformations produce models at other levels or executable artifacts. Model-to-model (M2M) and model-to-text (M2T) steps generate code, configuration, and user interfaces. Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are often used to express domain rules. Standards such as MOF and UML underpin many approaches.

Tools and ecosystems: Common tools include the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF), Xtext, JetBrains MPS, and Acceleo for code generation, along with UML tools such as MagicDraw or Enterprise Architect.

Applications: Modelldrivna approaches are used in software development, embedded systems, automotive, aerospace, and business process modeling, where model repositories support reuse, change impact analysis, and governance.

Advantages and challenges: Advantages include higher productivity and maintainability; challenges include learning curve, tool interoperability, model validation, and keeping models in sync with generated code.