Metadata management

Provided herein are methods and systems for managing and using metadata in connection with data integration in an enterpirse computing environment. An integrated, platform-independent approach to metadata management may allow enterprise-wide access to data integration services and underlying data, and facilitate reuse and redesign of tools and jobs in the data integration environment. Tools are providing for managing metadata, including maintaining versioned metadata models that may be branched and merged during a design cycle, and dynamically implemented across the enterprise. The platform-independent approach may facilitate varied uses including implementations in heterogeneous hardware and software computing environments.