This book focuses on the methodological treatment of UML/P and addresses
three core topics of model-based software development: code generation,
the systematic testing of programs using a model-based definition of
test cases, and the evolutionary refactoring and transformation of
models. For each of these topics, it first details the foundational
concepts and techniques, and then presents their application with UML/P.
This separation between basic principles and applications makes the
content more accessible and allows the reader to transfer this knowledge
directly to other model-based approaches and languages.
After an introduction to the book and its primary goals in Chapter 1,
Chapter 2 outlines an agile UML-based approach using UML/P as the
primary development language for creating executable models, generating
code from the models, designing test cases, and planning iterative
evolution through refactoring. In the interest of completeness, Chapter
3 provides a brief summary of UML/P, which is used throughout the book.
Next, Chapters 4 and 5 discuss core techniques for code generation,
addressing the architecture of a code generator and methods for
controlling it, as well as the suitability of UML/P notations for test
or product code. Chapters 6 and 7 then discuss general concepts for
testing software as well as the special features which arise due to the
use of UML/P. Chapter 8 details test patterns to show how to use UML/P
diagrams to define test cases and emphasizes in particular the use of
functional tests for distributed and concurrent software systems. In
closing, Chapters 9 and 10 examine techniques for transforming models
and code and thus provide a solid foundation for refactoring as a type
of transformation that preserves semantics.
Overall, this book will be of great benefit for practical software
development, for academic training in the field of Software Engineering,
and for research in the area of model-based software development.
Practitioners will learn how to use modern model-based techniques to
improve the production of code and thus significantly increase quality.
Students will find both important scientific basics as well as direct
applications of the techniques presented. And last but not least, the
book will offer scientists a comprehensive overview of the current state
of development in the three core topics it covers.
