Practical Insights into Model-Driven Architecture: Lessons from the Design and Use of an MDA Toolkit

Summary

There has been much discussion about the role and importance of model-driven development (MDD) and Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) as a way to improve the productivity and quality of enterprise application development. However, few documented experiences with the use of MDA styles of development are available. This paper provides a set of practical lessons derived from the design and use of an MDA toolkit at IBM. We describe the MDA Toolkit and its use, and highlight the key lessons in the use of an MDA approach from these experiences. We conclude with some observations on the MDA approach in general, and a brief discussion of follow, on work we are undertaking as a result of our experiences.