Model Transformation Languages under a Magnifying Glass: A Controlled Experiment with Xtend, ATL, and QVT
In Model-Driven Software Development, models are automatically processed to support the creation, build, and execution of systems. A large variety of dedicated model-transformation languages exists, promising to efficiently realize the automated processing of models. To investigate the actual benefit of using such specialized languages, we performed a large-scale controlled experiment in which over 78 subjects solve 231 individual tasks using three languages. The experiment sheds light on commonalities and differences between model transformation languages (ATL, QVT-O) and on benefits of using them in common development tasks (comprehension, change, and creation) against a modern general-purpose language (Xtend). Our results show no statistically significant benefit of using a dedicated transformation language over a modern general-purpose language. However, we were able to identify several aspects of transformation programming where domain-specific transformation languages do appear to help, including copying objects, context identification, and conditioning the computation on types.
Thu 8 NovDisplayed time zone: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey change
10:30 - 12:00 | ModelsResearch Papers / Journal-First at Horizons 10-11 Chair(s): Maurício Aniche Delft University of Technology, Netherlands | ||
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10:52 22mTalk | Applications of Psychological Science for Actionable Analytics Research Papers Di Chen North Carolina State University, USA, Wei Fu , Rahul Krishna NC State University, Tim Menzies North Carolina State University | ||
11:15 22mTalk | Putback-Based Bidirectional Model Transformations Research Papers Xiao He University of Science and Technology Beijing, China, Zhenjiang Hu National Institute of Informatics | ||
11:37 22mTalk | Model Transformation Languages under a Magnifying Glass: A Controlled Experiment with Xtend, ATL, and QVT Research Papers Regina Hebig Chalmers University of Technology & University of Gothenburg, Christoph Seidl Technische Universität Braunschweig, Thorsten Berger Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden / University of Gothenburg, Sweden, John Kook Pedersen IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Andrzej Wąsowski IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark |