Model Driven Architecture (MDA)

Model Driven Architecture (MDA) provides an open, vendor-neutral approach to the challenge of interoperability, building upon and leveraging OMG's established modeling standards, including Unified Modeling Language (UML). DAT uses these standards to enable the development of reduced time and cost, open system architectures. The Object Management Group (OMG) The Object Management Group (OMG) is an open membership, not-for-profit consortium dedicated to producing and maintaining specifications for interoperable enterprise applications. Many of the most successful and innovative companies in the computer industry are members. All members, including Data Access Technologies, have made the commitment to actively participate in shaping the future of enterprise, Internet, real-time, and embedded systems. OMG has developed some of the industry's most influential specifications, including Corba, OMG IDL, IIOP, UML, MOF, XMI, CWM, and MDA. MDA is described in detail in the document MDA Guide Version 1.0.1. DAT President and CEO, Cory Casanave is a contributor to the development of MDA.

MDA and DAT

At Data Access Technologies, we have a bedrock philosophy: We will recommend, design, develop, or implement only those technologies, applications, or architectures that result in an open, efficient, and flexible e-business system. Our tools and techniques leverage the capabilities of a Model Driven Architecture (MDA) applied to solve users problems.

We know that in today's maturing Internet economy, technology must enable our clients to maximize efficiency, market exposure, and revenues. Our architect/developer consultants have the in-depth understanding and expertise to bring the latest technologies together with your business demands and goals.

DAT, MDA and the Industry

DAT chairs a joint working group composed of The Open Group, the OMG, and The Integration Consortium, called the MDA-TOGAF Synergy Project that is aligning, modeling and mapping The Open Group's Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and the OMG MDA Standard Specifications. The resulting work is to take one of the world's most popular Architectural Frameworks, TOGAF, and ground its resulting artifacts in OMG Standard Specification. An initial White Paper is available from either Open Group or OMG

The Basics

The basic tenants of MDA are simple – to move the focus of systems development from software artifacts to high-level architectural models. High level models are tuned to the problems being solved, resonating with domain experts. Provisioning processes are used to automate much of the process of producing the system in terms of technology artifacts, documentation and process support. These high-level models and provisioning processes are supported by open standards and COTS tooling. In MDA the heart of the system is models, not code.

Model-Driven Architecture starts with the well-known and long established idea of separating the specification of the operation of a system from the details of the way that system uses the capabilities of its platform. MDA provides an approach for, and enables tools to be provided for:
— specifying a system independently of the platform that supports it,
— specifying platforms,
— choosing a particular platform for the system, and
— transforming the system specification into one for a particular platform.
The three primary goals of MDA are portability, interoperability and reusability through architectural separation of concerns.

Model Driven

MDA is an approach to system development, which increases the power of models in that work. It is model-driven because it provides a means for using models to direct the course of understanding, design, construction, deployment, operation, maintenance and modification.

Architecture

The architecture of a system is a specification of the parts and connectors of the system and the rules for the interactions of the parts using the connectors. Model-Driven Architecture prescribes certain kinds of models to be used, how those models may be prepared and the relationships of the different kinds of models.

More Information: See Model Driven Architecture at the OMG