Model-Driven Development for Non-functional Properties: Refinement Through Model Transformation

Model driven architecture (MDA) views application development as a continuous transformation of models of the target system. We propose a methodology which extends this view to non-functional properties. Our basic idea is the separation of two different roles in the development process: the role of the measurement designer and the role of the application designer. The former provides a library of measurement definitions which is later used by the latter to annotate functional application models with non-functional property specifications. In this paper we define the notion of context models to allow the measurement designer to provide measurement definitions at different levels of abstraction independently of concrete applications. Requiring the measurement designer to define transformations between context models and applying them to measurement definitions, enables us to provide tool support for refinement of non-functional constraints to the application designer. The concepts presented in this paper form the basis of a tool which we are currently developing.