Static analysis of xtUML models

“It [static analysis] is a fascinating science that is, in my view, underappreciated and hence under-exploited. Our desire to see things run, tends to overshadow our intellectual ability to find defects without execution.”
- John Wolfe

Background
Executable and Translatable UML (xtUML) and Model Driven Architecture (MDA) in particular, as opposed to traditional modeling methodologies, increase the opportunity to carry out static model analysis. The increased formality and consistent approach of MDA make the work of collecting data and performing model validation very easy. However, choosing what data to collect, how to extract meaning from such data and how to validate models, remain an unexplored business.

Mission statement
Based on a set of issues related to development with xtUML, the idea is to address these issues by implementing static model analysis tools and evaluate the outcome form the tools in terms of usefulness and validity.

Issues to investigate:
• Model validation
• Design rules
• Modeling conventions
• Development progress
• Others…

Pre-study
In order to accomplish the assignment, the student(s) must learn the principles of MDA and the BridgePoint Modeling Suite (a tool that supports MDA). An understanding of BridgePoint’s associated meta-model as well as the BridgePoint archetype language is also necessary when implementing the static analysis tools.