Towards an MDA-Oriented Methodology

The author describes the need to introduce a methodology named MDA or Model Driven Architecture based on the concept of Open Distributed Application Construction (ODAC) to be used as a guide in the development of complex distributed applications. The reasons offered for the need of MDA are: 1. The emerging and proliferation of middleware technology. 2. The interoperability of the different middleware. 3. High cost of migration. 4. Problems of portability from one platform to another. And the advantages of MDA are: 1. An architecture based on the MDA approach will always be ready to deal with tomorrow’s “next big thing” 2. MDA will allow easier integration of applications and facilities across middle ware boundaries. 3. Allows cross-platform interoperability. Finally, the principles of the MDA will also be conveyed. Key phrases: methodology, component-based systems, UML, Use case, Behavioral Specification, Engineering Specification, Operational Specification. Introduction With the evolution of technology and the organization structure, complex distributed applications have emerged. To meet the needs of software engineers, middleware technology emerged, offering services supporting distribution management. Examples of such technologies are CORBA, .NET, EJB or CCM. But with the emergence of such technologies, problems like interoperability, high cost of migration also surfaced. In view of these problems, Object Management Group (OMG) introduced the MDA initiative. With the use of modeling techniques, construction of appliances is simplified. And by abstracting away technical details and focusing only on the business concern in the elaboration of the application specification, the Platform-Independent Model (PIM) is formed. And by introducing the technical considerations into the PIM, the Platform Specific Model (PSM) is obtained. To simplify the development of component based systems, the OMG Enterprise Distributed Object Computing (EDOC) Profile, a framework composed of UML Profile Elements, was formed. Enterprise Collaboration Architecture (ECA) was also formed to specify systems that use the framework of the RM-ODP. Although EDOC modeling and RMODP architecture framework are useful tools for modeling, they are not methodological tools. Thus, Open Distributed Application Construction (ODAC) is presented as a potential MDA-oriented methodology as it provide a set of guidelines in UML Profiles to software engineers to how they can explain the architecture of the system they are building. 2. Related Lecture Topics The related topics are: a) Object-Oriented Software Engineering Use case Modeling, Requirement Analysis b) Conventional Software Engineering UML Diagrams, Essential and Implementation Views After requirements are gathered, the software engineer will create scenarios to identify a thread of usage for the system to be constructed. Such scenarios, often called Use-cases, provide a description of how the system will be used. Essential view of software requirements presents functions to be accomplished and information to be processed without regard to implementation details. In the paper, the author uses 3 viewpoints of the ODAC analysis namely Enterprise, Information and Computational viewpoint to identify the set of steps to write the corresponding specification.