Extending a Model Transformation Language Using Higher Order Transformations

Model driven engineering is a paradigm for software development on different platforms. Models are (semi) automatically refined in a series of steps, each step adding more information to eventually produce software code. However, the specification of model transformations which define these refinements is still performed in a manual fashion. A specification may be very complex, difficult to understand or time-consuming to produce. There is need for a higher level language for improving expressivity of the basic transformation mechanism. Consequently, we need higher order transformations for converting the extra features adding expressivity into the basic formalism, thus providing a mechanism for implementing extensions to the core language. This approach is tested on a few cases including evolution and refinement to other paradigms (e.g. transformation from a UML activity diagram into communicating sequential processes).