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| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/H006249/1 |
| Title: |
EA-MDE: An Empirical Assessment of the Efficacy of Model Driven Engineering |
| Principal Investigator: |
Professor J Whittle |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-investigator: |
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| Project Partner: |
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| Department: |
Computing |
| Organisation: |
Lancaster University |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research |
| Starts: |
05 October 2009 |
Ends: |
04 October 2010 |
Value (£): |
132,770
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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02 Jun 2009
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ICT Prioritisation Panel (June 09)
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Announced
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Summary |
The complexity and pervasiveness of software in society is growing exponentially. It is generally agreed that the
only realistic way to manage this complexity, and to continue to provide software benefits to the public at large, is to
develop software using appropriate methods of abstraction. Today, the state-of-the-art in software abstraction is
model-driven engineering (MDE) - that is, the systematic use of models as primary artefacts during a software
engineering process. MDE includes various model-driven approaches to software development, including model-driven
architecture, domain-specific modelling, and model-integrated computing.
Although MDE claims many potential benefits - chiefly, gains in productivity, portability, maintainability and
interoperability - it has been developed largely without the support of empirical data to test these claims. As a result,
decisions whether or not to use MDE are based mainly on expert opinion rather than hard empirical data; and these
opinions often diverge. The lack of empirical results on MDE is a problem for two reasons.
Firstly, industry invests millions in the development and application of MDE tools. Without empirical
evidence of the efficacy of these tools, there is a danger that resources are being wasted. Whether or not the current
brand of MDE tools succeeds, the notion of abstract models is crucial to the future of software. Empirical evaluations
are needed to ensure that future software tools will match the way that software developers think.
Secondly, academia also invests significantly in MDE in the form of PhD theses and research papers. This research is
rarely informed by empirical evidence, which means that it is difficult for funding bodies to properly assess the
usefulness of research results. One issue is that early-career researchers lack the multidisciplinary knowledge that is
inherently required - that is, knowledge both of MDE and the psychological know-how of conducting experiments.
Another problem is simply that empirical evaluation in MDE is hard. Rigorous evaluations ought to engage industry
over lengthy periods of time, but industry is often reluctant to get involved because it cannot see immediate benefits of a
novel research technique.
The proposed research will address these two problems by developing a framework for empirical evaluation of MDE
that is informed by current industry practice and needs and is available to researchers to use and adapt it as necessary.
The overall goal of the research is to address fundamental questions as to how empirical evaluations can best be
integrated with MDE research and practice as well as to provide steps toward a scientific foundation for MDE
evaluation and adoption.
This is a 12 month pilot project. This is for the following reason. The challenges of empirically
evaluating MDE are fundamentally hard. Since there has been very little research in this area, a feasibility study would
be beneficial before investing further resources. We will use this pilot phase to map out the MDE evaluation landscape
and to develop an initial evaluation framework. We view the pilot as phase I of a two phase effort to provide a scientific
foundation for MDE evaluation. We plan to use the results of the pilot to support a follow-on phase II effort that will
propose: a theory of software modellers' cognitive processes; a more detailed evaluation framework; and a new
generation of MDE tools.
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| Final Report Summary |
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No final report summary is available for this grant.
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.lancs.ac.uk |
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