MDA

MDA stands for Model Driven Architecture and was created by the Object Management Group with the goal of making it easier to develop software with less development and chance for human error. It also has the goal of eliminating the need for middleware, and separating the design from the development. It creates software that is platform independent.

Here is how it works. A model of a software solution is created. That model is then used to create the software in any of a number of different platforms. The idea is that it doesn’t matter what the platform is that the software ends up in. The important thing is that the model is correct, and then used to develop exactly what is needed. It is a very cool idea.

Of course this means that the models need to be very accurate, and for this reason there is a standard for model development before it can be use in development. So basically, the human sets out the specifications and gives the requirements, and the code is then generated.

This is valuable because requirements and specifications can be laid out for a given software project in the form of a standardized model. Then the code will be created for any platform you need; .Net, Java and others. This allows you to more easily test software and select an appropriate programming language.

In MDA, more of the time and effort will be placed in the planning and requirements phase of software development, not in the actual coding. This is better for companies, especially where code-happy developers are involved, and wand to get right into the code. This allows for a very high level view of the functionality of the software, which will in turn, result in a more specific and complete final product.

There are many tools for developing. The human element of MDA is in the development of the models, but there are even tools that will create the models. There are analysis tools that will inspect the models for completeness, and tools used to transform the models into actual code. There are many vendors that offer these MDA tools, many of which are OMG members. Some of them include the Voyant Group, Softteam, Soluta.net and Compuware.