This is some data concerning a recent conversation on the xtUML Community chat. The big question is who needs to know what to transform an xtUML model into another language (like C, Java, or even another model). Does the xtUML metamodel need to know about the target language? Does the transformation metamodel need to know the internals of the xtUML metamodel? Neither sounded very palatable to the chat participants.
Some definitions for metamodel:
– From Mellor-Balcer Executable UML: A metamodel is a model of a language expressed using a modeling language. … The instances in the metamodel capture the entire semantics of the application, including … the action language. The structure of a [Executable UML] repository is defined by the metamodel.
– From MDA Distilled by Mellor, Scott, Uhl, and Weise: a metamodel is a model of the modeling language. A model-driven approach maintains a separate mapping function that transforms the source model into the target model. A mapping function is a collection of rules or algorithms that defines how a particular mapping works. A mapping is the application or execution of a mapping function in order to transform one model into another.
The latter part seems to contain an answer, but can it be improved?
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