| Overview"A readable and much needed introduction to MDA."
--Dr. Jim Arlow, coauthor of UML and the Unified Process
(Addison-Wesley, 2002) and Enterprise Patterns and MDA
(Addison-Wesley, 2004) "This book provides an excellent introduction to the ideas
and technologies that will form the foundation of the model-driven
architecture over the coming years. I recommend it
wholeheartedly."
--Dr. Andy Evans, Managing Director, Xactium Limited, UK "Excellent job of distilling MDA down to its core
concepts."
--Krzysztof Czarnecki, Univeristy of Waterloo, coauthor of
Generative Programming (Addison-Wesley, 2000) As systems have grown more crucial to the operations of
organizations worldwide, so too have the costs associated with
building and maintaining them. Enter model-driven architecture
(MDA), a standard framework from the Object Management Group (OMG)
that allows developers to link object models together to build
complete systems. MDA prevents design decisions from being
intertwined with the application and keeps it independent of its
implementation. The result is an application that can be combined
with other technologies as well as other applications, and models
that become highly reusable assets. MDA Distilled is an accessible introduction to the
MDA standard and its tools and technologies. The book describes the
fundamental features of MDA, how they fit together, and how you can
use them in your organization today. You will also learn how to
define a model-driven process for a project involving multiple
platforms, implement that process, and then test the resulting
system. MDA Distilled will help you understand: The MDA framework, including the platform-independent model
(PIM) and the platform-specific model (PSM) The Meta Object Facility (MOF)--the OMG's adopted standard for
metamodeling Horizontal, vertical, and merging mappings between models Building marks and marking models Elaborating models, including viewing generated models, and
managing manual changes Building executable models with Executable UML Agile MDA development
Developers and architects can dramatically improve productivity,
portability, interoperability, and maintenance with MDA. Find out
how with this essential reference, and quickly learn how to harness
the significant power of this new framework.
Editorial ReviewsProduct DescriptionThe Object Management Group (OMG) has forwarded the cause of Model Driven Architecture (MDA) as a more effective means of building software. In this new book, object technology experts demystify the intricacies of MDA so that the reader can get up-to-speed quickly and leverage the significant power of the standard. The book gently introduces MDA, and explains how it is designed to integrate disparate and evolving middleware technologies. The book also explores why MDA is the wave of the future, with inherent flexibility that allows organizations to harness the next big thing (whatever it may be) in middleware technology. |
Other Readers Also Read | Browse Similar Topics | | Top Level Categories:Sub-Categories: | | | |
Reader Reviews From Amazon (Ranked by 'Helpfulness') Average Customer Rating: based on 2 reviews. An excellent introduction to MDA, 2004-04-21 Reviewer rating: Model-driven architecture (MDA) is a potential next level of abstraction in the production of software. The principle is that the solution to the problem is expressed using a modeling language, which is then translated by a model compiler into source code. That source code is then converted into executable code. The potential for increased efficiency is obviously enormous. The ability to express solutions in a high- level abstract language alone will provide substantial benefits. Once it is possible to mechanically convert the solution into an executable form, one middle step in the software development process will be eliminated. While there are many legitimate doubts that can be expressed about the current state of MDA implementation, it has progressed to the point where all development teams should perform an initial investigation. When that point is reached, you should reach for this book. As the name implies, this is a primer/overview of what MDA is, how it is organized and the notations used to express the various elements of MDA. I found the book to be an excellent introduction to what MDA is, how it will be implemented and the advantages that it offers. It starts with a chapter on the basic terminology, which is followed by chapters on building models, building metamodels, building marking models, building languages and building executable models. I found the chapters on building marking models and building languages the most interesting. Marks are additional inputs used in the transformation of the model into source code. They are needed to represent the problem specific features of the current solution. Since there are so many different ways in which software is used, area specific modeling languages are needed. The description of how languages for this can be built was very interesting. At this point, no one knows how effective MDA will be in software development. However, there is no question that it will have an impact and this book will teach you the how and why. | Field still incomplete, 2004-04-19 Reviewer rating: Over the decades, programmers have developed higher levels of abstraction in their languages. From the raw machine code of the 1940s to assembler to Fortran and later to C, C++, Java, C#. Once past assembler, all the higher constructs give us hardware independence. But suppose we have a system we want to code. The system could be defined textually or graphically. Currently, the implementation of a system is dependent on the software. MDA is an attempt to give us software independence. The promise is to build a model according to some rules. This model documentation can then be run through a black box that makes implementation code. The user does not have to know the details of the black box. Exactly analogous to how you might write a C program and then turn it over to a compiler. Clearly, there is immense value if MDA is possible. The authors say much of the value lies in the model being closer to what the user desires. Ideally, the user would draw up the model and be able to test it, without any knowledge of the lower, programming level. So there is no "verification gap". The document the user makes can be thus executed. Some of you will remember similar claims made for fifth generation languages and their like back in the late 80s. These would turn every user into a programmer, eh?! Unfortunately, those efforts failed. The problem was too hard. Sadly, as the authors themselves point out, MDA has not reached this goal either. A work still in progress. The book shows the current borders of research. It could do with some non-trivial examples. Important because of the abstract level of most of the discussion. Whilst there are some examples, they are of limited complexity. |
Some information above was provided using data from Amazon.com. View at Amazon > |
| |
|
|
