Software Mumbles and Grumbles

As I mentioned in a previous post, MetaCase’s Drs. Kelly and Tolvanen, have published a new book on DSM, appropriately named “Domain-Specific Modeling: Enabling Full Code Generation.” The reason for this post is that I wanted to also mention that there is now a website for the book www.dsmbook.com available for those who want to get a full overview of the content, as well as some background on the authors.

I already stated my positive opinion about the book, but I’m happy to say that the early feedback I am hearing has also been extremely positive–very good exposure for the DSM community as a whole. This book should really help to open a lot of eyes to the potential of DSM.

Software Practice Advancement 2008 starts this Sunday in Bedfordshire England. Keynotes for the event are Michael Feathers (Object Mentor Inc.) and Dr. L Peter Deutsch (Ghostscript).

For those of you interested in DSM, there are a few presentations not to miss:

Monday 17 March 10:00-13:00
Domain-Specific Modeling for Full Code Generation
Dr. Juha-Pekka Tolvanen

Monday 17 March 15:30-16:45
Domain Specific Languages: Design and Evolution
Peter Bell

Another promising session (non-DSM) is Mark Dalgarno’s talk on preventing architecture decay.
Tuesday 18 March 14:45-17:45
When good architecture goes bad

Enjoy the show.

It’s always a nice when I run across software development gurus that are praising the merits of Domain-Specific Modeling and Languages—particularly when they are converts. Over the weekend I spotted a posting from Ivar Jacobson that was just that. As most of you are probably aware, he is one of the original creators of the UML. In the posting, Mr. Jacobson emphasizes the importance of reuse and comments that domain-specific languages (not UML) are the key. This is the message that DSM tool providers (e.g. MetaCase) have been saying for years now and it sure is great that even the founders of the UML are stating the same.

http://ivarjacobson.wordpress.com/2004/02/08/software-reuse/

DevWeek 2008 is less than a month away. The speakers for this year’s show look strong (http://www.devweek.com/speakers/) and really seems to have something for everyone.

10-14 March
Barbican Centre
London, UK

MetaCase’s CEO, Dr. Juha-Pekka Tolvanen,  will be presenting on 12 March (14:00-15:30).

http://www.devweek.com/sessions/conference2.asp

If you are interested in setting up a time to meet with Dr. Tolvanen either before or after the event, let me know (james@metacase.com).

Here are the photos from OOP 2008, Munich, Germany, I promised in the last posting.

Down one of the aisles

MetaCase booth

Dr. Juha-Pekka Tolvanen, explaining how to create domain-specific modeling languages

I returned early this morning from OOP 2008; I must say that I was pleased with the event overall. Attendance for the event was up on last years numbers (I was told 3-5% by the Sigs-Datacom folks). It was positive to see that there were a number of different presentations on the topic of Domain-Specific Modeling and Languages; far more than in the previous years. Even the UML vendors were trying to cash in on this momentum, but I think most of the attendees quickly saw through this false facade.

A significant number of the attendees had DSM on their mind, with a large percentage of our booth visitors revealing that their companies are looking to make a move in this direction—really great to hear.

Our message of “full code generation” rang home for many, who shared stories regarding their frustration with the skeleton code the are currently achieving and talked of the pressure they were under to find a better way.

Central Finland was hit by a storm on Thursday so our flights were delayed. They held the plane on on the connecting flight for us, but not for our luggage, which just arrived in the office a few hours ago… Aside from that minor inconvenience, thumbs up for the trip.

I’ll upload some pictures in the next day or so.

This being the first posting of 2008, I wanted to say hi to everyone before I started… so hi.

OOP starts on Monday in Munich, Germany, and runs through Friday. The exhibition portion of the conference runs from Tuesday thru Thursday. A number of you have already informed me that you would be attending and arranged to meet. Anyone else interested in meeting up there should give me a shout (james@metacase.com) and we can set up a time to talk.

In addition to our booth at the exhibition (#8.6) MetaCase will giving the following presentations:

Tuesday, 22 Jan (12:10 - 12:55)
Domain-Specific Modeling: Requirements, Readiness, Rollout

Wednesday, 23 Jan (9:00 - 10:30)
Model-Based Code Generation: 20 Example CasesThursday, 24 Jan (10:30 - 11:10)
Defining Domain-Specific Languages: Start to Finish

Hopefully you’ll be able to make it.

As this is probably my last posting before 2008, I wanted take a second and wish everyone a Happy New Year…

2007 turned out to be a very exciting year in the world of Domain-Specific Modeling and Model-Driven Development as a whole. Largely due to the massive increase in interest in this area. As the word continues to spread of the radical productivity improvements organizations are experiencing with MetaEdit+, more and more companies are looking to see how this could benefit them. It’s taken a while, but people are starting to move past the disappointing results achieved with UML and willing to embrace a superior approach to model-based code generation–namely, DSM.

Aside from our customer successes, MetaCase’s selection to the SD Times list of the top 100 leaders and innovators in the software development industry was extremely gratifying, as was our invitation to join the EU’s groundbreaking MoSiS project focusing on the role of MDD in the embedded industry… Really good stuff all around

Looking ahead at 2008, I fully expect this increase in interest to continue. Awesome success stories continue to be shown from companies like Matsushita (Panasonic), Nokia, VTT, EADS, etc., and 2008 is sure to deliver more.

 Talk to you next year!

MetaCase announced Tuesday that it will be sponsoring  Code Generation 2008. The event will be held in Cambridge, UK on 25-27 June. Code Generation focuses on Domain-Specific Modeling and Languages, Model-Driven Development, and MDA. For anyone seriously interested in DSM and automatic code generation from models, this truly is a “must-go” event. Last year brought together the leading companies and experts focussed on this field, I’m confident that 2008 will do the same. Nearly everyone I spoke to at the end CG 2007 confirmed that they were sure to be there in 2008. 

Bran Selic and Steve Cook have been announced as the keynote speakers. The Call for Speakers is still open, but will be closing in a couple weeks.

Juha-Pekka Tolvanen and Steven Kelly’s new book entitled “Domain-Specific Modeling” is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book, to be released in Jan 2008, promises to be the definitive DSM guide, and a must have for all Model-Driven Engineering enthusiasts. I’ve had a chance to take a first look at it, and it really contains a  lot of practical advise and ideas for creating a great DSM language… I think it’s going to be a big help for anyone interested in increasing their software development productivity with model-based DSLs.

 http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470036664.html

 Amazon link