Authors:
Mert Ozkaya
1
;
Kamran Musayev
2
and
Mehmet Kose
3
Affiliations:
1
Yeditepe University, Department of Computer Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey
;
2
DFDS, Istanbul, Turkey
;
3
Independent Researcher, Istanbul, Turkey
Keyword(s):
Survey, Practitioners, Meta-Modeling, Modeling, Graphical Modeling Editors.
Abstract:
Graphical modeling editors used for modeling and processing any information can be developed using either programming technologies (e.g., software libraries and frameworks) or meta-modeling technologies. However, with the existing literature, it is not clear which technique is popular and what motivate and demotivate practitioners using those techniques. In this paper, we conducted a survey among 76 practitioners (with 52 acceptable responses) to understand their experiences on developing graphical modeling editors. The survey led to interesting results. The top motivation for developing editors is the model-driven engineering and model transformation. 62% of the participants use meta-modeling technologies for developing editors, while the rest use programming languages. Sirius is the top-used meta-modeling technology, while C# and Python are the top-used programming languages. The participants using programming languages emphasized the reduced learning-curve with programming and adv
anced development platforms for developing portable editors. Many of those participants have no idea about meta-modeling. The participants using meta-modeling technologies revealed the huge time and effort gain with no-code editor development. Also, enhanced maintenance of editors by just changing the meta-model without writing code is considered important. However, those practitioners state challenges on the meta-modeling technologies’ support for extensibility and customisation, developers’ community, and complex meta-modeling.
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