Domain-specific programming: an object-oriented and knowledge-based approach to specification and generation
Neil Iscoe · 1990
Programmers must have an understanding of both programming knowledge and application domain knowledge to write application programs. But while programming is well enough understood to model and teach, application domain knowledge is not yet well understood, and is codified only in an informal ad hoc manner. Because representations that precisely characterize application domain knowledge do not currently exist, errors are frequently made when gathering and mapping specifications from the informal to the formal. This dissertation defines a meta-model for application domain knowledge and describes a methodology for its instantiation into domain-specific models. Domain models are representations of application domains that can be used for a variety of operational goals in support of specific software engineering tasks or processes. The meta-model and methodology in this dissertation facilitate understanding and analyzing application areas and eliciting and formalizing software requirements and specifications. The emphasis is on general characterization techniques that can be used to instantiate models from different application domains.