MODELSWARD 2018
Plenary Panel Session
Date: Monday 22nd, 2018
Time: 09:15 -10:30
Immediately After Opening Session
The Different Roles Models Can Play in Software Development and Their Pros and Cons
Chair and Moderator:
Bran Selic,Malina Software Corp., Canada
Panelists:
Franck Barbier, University of Pau, France
David Harel, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Bernhard Rumpe, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Abstract:
We are bombarded with buzzwords such as “model-driven development”, “model-driven architecture”, “model-based engineering” etc., to the point where one might think that the models themselves (rather than corresponding actual systems) are the sought-for end result. Because they are not well defined, these terms are open to much misinterpretation and confusion (e.g., why “model-driven architecture” when there is no architecture in that standardization initiative?). For example, to many in the software community "model-driven development" reduces to automatic code generation from UML or similar “modeling” language), something which, by the way, naturally arouses hostility among those who feel that their ability to write program code is key to their employability. However, as in any engineering discipline, models have the potential to serve numerous useful functions in the process of design and development.
In this panel, we will attempt to identify all the varied purposes that models can and do serve in the software lifecycle as well as the advantages that such usages can bring. However, to play the devil’s advocate, based on the dictum that rarely is something gained without something being lost, we also want to understand the theoretical and practical drawbacks (if any) associated with the use of models in software. Moreover, we also want to examine the practical impediments that stand in the way of full exploitation of models in the software domain and what can be done to mitigate them. If this stuff is so good, why isn’t everyone doing it?