Towards Language-Oriented Modeling Benoit Combemale
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Towards Language-Oriented Modeling Benoit Combemale To cite this version: Benoit Combemale. Towards Language-Oriented Modeling. Software Engineering [cs.SE]. Uni- versit´ede Rennes 1, 2015. <tel-01238817> HAL Id: tel-01238817 https://hal.inria.fr/tel-01238817 Submitted on 8 Dec 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destin´eeau d´ep^otet `ala diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publi´esou non, lished or not. The documents may come from ´emanant des ´etablissements d'enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche fran¸caisou ´etrangers,des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou priv´es. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NoDerivatives 4.0 International License ANNÉE 2015 HABILITATION À DIRIGER DES RECHERCHES UNIVERSITÉ DE RENNES 1 sous le sceau de l’Université Européenne de Bretagne Mention : Informatique École doctorale Matisse présentée par Benoit COMBEMALE préparée à l’unité de recherche IRISA – UMR6074 Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Système Aléatoires / ESIR HDR soutenue à Rennes Towards Language- le 4 décembre 2015 devant le jury composé de : Oriented Modeling Franck BARBIER Professor, University of Pau, France / Rapporteur Lionel BRIAND Professor, University of Luxembourg / Rapporteur Betty H.C. CHENG Professor, Michigan State University, USA / Rapporteur Oscar NIERSTRASZ Professor, University of Bern, Switzerland / Rapporteur JOERG KIENZLE Professor, McGill University, Canada / Examinateur PETER D. MOSSES Professor, Swansea University, United Kingdom / Examinateur BENOIT BAUDRY Research Scientist, INRIA, France / Examinateur JEAN-MARC JÉZÉQUEL Professor, University of Rennes 1, France / Examinateur In memory of Prof. Robert B. France, A mentor, an academic father and far beyond. Rest in peace, Robert. Foreword In the French academic system, the ‘habilitation à diriger des recherches’ (HDR) is an additional degree after the PhD. This degree is required to officially supervise PhD students, to apply for full professorship, and more generally to run an independent research activity. The manuscript of an HDR is supposed to overview the research activities of the candidate, and demonstrate a clear vision leading to consistent contributions. In that sense, it is not meant to be a fully polished, self contained document like a PhD thesis. This document constitutes the manuscript of my HDR. I overview a decade of research work in the fields of model driven engineering (MDE) and software language engineering (SLE). The contributions are organized so as to highlight the vision as well as the scientific method. Of course, these contributions would not have been achieved alone. This document also aims to present the complementarity of the research work conducted with the various students I have been pleased to supervise, as well as the place of the various collaborations with researchers and practitioners, in the elaboration of the resulting vision I defend in this document. This document is meant to be first dedicated to the referees of my HDR who evaluate and report on my research activities, the breakthroughs addressed, and the resulting contributions. This document also offers a brief overview of the state of the art in the fields of MDE and SLE. Finally, this document would be also of interest for everyone willing to learn how to turn domain knowledge into added value and coordinated DSMLs. Contents Contents 1 1 Introduction 5 1.1 Context......................................... 5 1.1.1 Application Context.............................. 5 1.1.2 Scientific Context................................ 6 1.2 Objectives and Challenges............................... 8 1.3 Overview of the Contributions ............................ 9 1.4 Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs ..................... 10 1.5 Research Methods ................................... 11 1.6 Supervision....................................... 11 1.7 Grants, Contracts and Projects............................ 12 1.8 Organization of the document............................. 13 2 Metamodeling in the Small: Facing the Development of DSMLs 15 2.1 Mashup of (Domain-Specific) Meta-Languages.................... 16 2.1.1 Concern #1: Abstract Syntax Definition................... 17 2.1.2 Concern #2: Static Semantics Definition .................. 17 2.1.3 Concern #3: Behavioral Semantics Definition................ 18 2.1.4 Composition Operators for the Mashup of Meta-Languages . 19 2.1.5 Evaluation of the Mashup From the Language Engineer Viewpoint . 19 2.1.5.1 Are concerns designed in different modules?............ 20 2.1.5.2 Are concerns designed using appropriate meta-languages? . 21 2.2 Efficient Structural Model Checking ......................... 23 2.2.1 Approach Overview .............................. 24 2.2.2 Evaluation Results............................... 25 2.3 The xDSML Pattern: A Metamodeling Pattern for Model Execution . 25 2.3.1 Motivation ................................... 26 2.3.2 Structure .................................... 27 2.3.3 Participants................................... 28 2.3.4 Consequences.................................. 29 2.3.4.1 Definition of the Semantics..................... 30 2.3.4.2 Definition of the Execution-Related Tools............. 31 2.4 Weaving Concurrency in Modeling Languages.................... 32 2.4.1 Reifying Concurrency in xDSMLs....................... 32 2.4.1.1 Background Knowledge....................... 32 2.4.1.2 Language Units Identification.................... 33 2.4.1.3 Reifying Language Units Coordination .............. 35 2.4.2 moccml: a Meta-Language for the Concurrency Concern in xDSMLs . 37 2015/12/7 10:0 2 1 2 CONTENTS 2.4.2.1 moccml Overview.......................... 37 2.4.2.2 moccml Syntax ........................... 38 2.4.2.3 moccml Semantics ......................... 40 2.4.3 Model Execution and Analysis ........................ 41 2.5 Execution Trace Management and Omniscient Debugging............. 41 2.6 Wrap-up: Design and Implementation of the UML Activity Diagram Language . 44 2.6.1 Overview of the solution............................ 44 2.6.2 Operational Semantics............................. 46 2.6.3 Language Assembling ............................. 48 2.6.4 Trace Management............................... 48 2.6.5 Animation Facilities .............................. 48 2.6.6 Explicit and Formal Concurrency Model................... 48 2.6.7 Evaluation of the solution........................... 49 2.6.7.1 Correctness.............................. 49 2.6.7.2 Understandability and Conciseness................. 49 2.6.7.3 Performance ............................. 50 3 Metamodeling in the Large: Facing the Multiplication of DSMLs 51 3.1 Reuse of Modeling Languages: Facing the Multiplication of Application Domains 52 3.1.1 Model Typing as Structural Language Interface............... 52 3.1.1.1 Model Typing ............................ 52 3.1.1.2 Model Subtyping Relations..................... 55 3.1.1.3 Definition of Subtyping Relations for Model Types . 58 3.1.1.4 Contract-aware MOF Class Matching............... 59 3.1.1.5 Putting Subtyping Relations to Work............... 62 3.1.1.6 A Foundational Framework to Classify Existing Approaches . 63 3.1.2 Melange: A Meta Language for Language Reuse .............. 65 3.1.2.1 Approach Overview......................... 65 3.1.2.2 Language Definition......................... 67 3.1.2.3 Operators for Language Assembly................. 69 3.1.2.4 Operators for Language Customization .............. 69 3.1.2.5 Specification of Melange....................... 72 3.1.2.6 Case Study.............................. 76 3.1.2.7 Related Work ............................ 79 3.1.3 Variability Management in Language Family ................ 80 3.1.3.1 Approach Overview......................... 81 3.1.3.2 Case study: A family of DSMLs for Finite State Machines . 83 3.2 Globalization of Modeling Languages: Facing the Multiplication of Stakeholders . 83 3.2.1 The Grand Challenge ............................. 83 3.2.1.1 Globalized DSML Challenge: Looking Ahead........... 84 3.2.1.2 On the Globalization of Modeling Languages........... 85 3.2.2 Event Scheduling as Behavioral Language Interface............. 86 3.2.3 B-COoL: a Meta Language for Behavioral Coordination of Modeling Languages.................................... 88 3.2.3.1 B-COoL Overview ......................... 88 3.2.3.2 Abstract Syntax of B-COoL .................... 90 3.2.3.3 B-COoL library ........................... 91 3.2.3.4 Concrete Syntax........................... 92 3.2.3.5 Execution semantics......................... 92 CONTENTS 3 4 Conclusion 95 4.1 Overall scientific vision and major achievements................... 95 4.2 Technological outcomes ................................ 96 4.2.1 The Melange Language Workbench...................... 96 4.2.2 The GEMOC Studio.............................. 96 4.3 The GEMOC Initiative ................................ 97 5 Perspectives 99 5.1 Dynamically Adaptable Software Languages..................... 99 5.1.1 Metamorphic DSLs............................... 99 5.1.1.1 Ongoing Work............................102 5.1.1.2 Vision.................................102 5.1.1.3 Challenges ..............................104 5.1.2 Approximate Software Languages.......................104 5.2 Modeling for Sustainability ..............................105