Integrating Platform Selection Rules in the Model Driven Architecture Approach

A key issue in the MDA approach is the transformation of platform independent models to platform specific models. Before transforming to a platform specific model, however, it is necessary to select the appropriate platform. Various platforms exist with different properties and the selection of the appropriate platform for the given application requirements is not trivial. An inappropriate selection of a platform, though, may easily lead to unnecessary loss of resources and lower the efficiency of the application development. Unfortunately, the selection of platforms in MDA is currently implicit and lacks systematic support. We propose to integrate so-called platform selection rules in the MDA approach for systematic selection of platforms. The platform selection rules are based on platform domain models that are derived through domain analysis techniques. We show that the selection of platforms is important throughout the whole MDA process and discuss the integration of the platform selection rules in the MDA approach. The platform selection rules have been implemented in the prototypical tool MDA Selector that provides automated support for the selection of a platform. The presented ideas are illustrated for a stock trading system.