Ontology-Based Development of Domain-Specific Languages via Customizing Base Language

The quality of the systems depends on compliance to the domain requirements. High quality is achieved only with involving experts in the relevant fields to the system design as experts. Modern design methods are based on using professional tools and modeling languages. Using these tools are difficult for domain experts. Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) can be considered as "user interfaces" for experts because they bridge the gap between the domain experts and the software development tools via customizing modeling languages. Usability of DSLs by domain experts is a key factor for their successful adoption. But DSL creation is challenging task. An approach to DSL customization based on using multifaceted ontology is proposed. General scheme of DSL metamodel generation based on multifaceted ontology is described. Examples of created DSLs and models illustrating the applicability of the proposed method are shown. The DSL metamodels were developed and tested in several domains. The results of experiments confirmed practical significance of the ontology-based approach to DSL creation.