Pondering on the Key Functionality of Model Driven Development Tools: The Case of Mendix

摘要

Model Driven Architectures and Model Driven Development (MDD) have been used in information system (IS) development projects for almost a decade. While the methodological support for the MDD process is important, the success of a project taking the model driven approach to development also heavily depends on the tool. The tool simply needs to support a set of key functionalities, such as an appropriate level of model abstraction, the refinement of models and finally the execution of models. In this paper we analyze a new MDD tool, namely Mendix, with respect to a number of functionality areas needed to achieve success in a project and capitalize on the benefits of MDD. Our findings are that Mendix use a well selected set of models and that these models are well integrated and suitable for the construction of small systems. Based on the key functionality areas we also point out the weaknesses of the tool.