Diagram Predicate Framework
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Diagram Predicate Framework (DPF) is a research project initiated by the and the University of Bergen, Norway, early in 2006. The project aims at formalising concepts in model-driven engineering (MDE) and involves several from Norway and Canada.
MDE is a trend in software engineering which aims at improving productivity and quality of software development. This is obtained by considering models as first-class entities of the software development process and adopting model transformation to automate the implementation. MDE enables developers to reason at a higher level of abstraction and focus on the problem domain. Moreover, it restrains developers from repetitive and error-prone work such as coding.
In the state-of-the-art of MDE, models are typically specified by means of modelling languages such as the . The semantics of these modelling languages is mostly specified semi-formally by means of textual description in English. This may not guarantee the degree of precision required by MDE. In fact, research in the field has argued that a formal approach is necessary to unfold the full potential of MDE.
DPF attempts to overcome this shortage by providing a formal approach to (meta)modelling, model transformation and model management based on category theory and graph transformation. DPF is an extension of the Generalised Sketches formalism originally developed by et al..