Metamodelling for Software Engineering

This book focuses on metamodelling as a discipline, exploring its foundations, techniques and results. It presents a comprehensive metamodel that covers process, product and quality issues under a common framework.Issues covered include: An explanation of what metamodelling is and why it is necessary in the context of software engineering. Basic concepts and principles of traditional metamodelling, and some existing results of this approach. Problems associated with traditional approaches to Metamodelling are discussed, alongside an exploration of possible solutions and alternative approaches. Advanced topics such as the extension of the object-oriented paradigm for metamodelling purposes or the foundations of powertype-based tool development will be studied. Finally, a comprehensive case study is introduced and developed, showing how to use many of the concepts explained in the previous chapters.This book provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for metamodelling and includes case studies and exercises which will demonstrate practical uses of metamodelling. For lecturers and educators, the book provides a layered repository of contents, starting from the basics of metamodelling in the first chapters, through specific issues such as trans-layer control or non-strict approaches, up to advanced topics such as universal powertyping or extensions to the object-oriented paradigm. The book also serves as an in-depth reference guide to features and technologies to consider when developing in-house software development methods or customising and adopting off-the-shelf ones. Software tool developers and vendors can benefit from the book by finding in it a comprehensive guide to the implementation of frameworks and toolsets for computer-aided software modelling and development.

Dr. César González-Pérez has extensive experience in developing educational material, teaching and training in both university and industry settings, and as a programmer and systems designer. He has published over 20 papers and 3 monographs in software engineering-related topics, and works as a researcher at the Deptartment of Software Engineering of the University of Technology, Sydney.

Brian Henderson-Sellers is Director of the Centre for Object Technology Applications and Research and Professor of Information Systems at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is author of over a dozen books on object and agent technologies and is well known for his work in OO methodologies and OO metrics. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and was voted number 3 in the Who's Who of Object Technology (Handbook of Object Technology, CRC Press). In July 2001, Professor Henderson-Sellers was awarded a Doctor of Science (DSc) from the University of London for his research contributions in object-oriented methodologies.