Exploring the Effectiveness and Trends of Domain-Specific Model Driven Engineering: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR)

Rapid technological advancements have resulted in increasingly complex software systems, posing challenges during development in terms of time and cost. Adopting domain-specific modeling (DSM) brings numerous benefits to software engineering, including enhanced efficiency, improved maintenance capabilities, higher software quality, reduced development time, and increased potential for cost-effective software solutions through improved reusability. Despite the proven effectiveness of DSM in various domains, a study summarizing recent advancements is hard to find in the state-of-the-art. Therefore, in this article, we present a comprehensive systematic literature review that examines the application of DSM in various domains (4). We selected 99 studies and classified those into four categories, i.e., meta-modeling (42), domain-specific languages (39), UML profiles (9), and general (9) based on the use of DSM approaches. We identified various tools from the selected studies, i.e., 21 existing and 91 proposed or developed. Moreover, model-driven engineering (MDE) techniques, including validation (12), simulation (5), verification (4), and software architectural modeling (3), are presented and analyzed. We further explained the type of model transformation employed in each study, i.e., model-to-text (49) and model-to-model (4). Finally, the regions participating in DSM’s growth are also investigated. It is concluded that Ecore is the leading meta-modeling tool, Xtext is the often-used domain-specific tool, Sirius is graphical, and UPPAAL is the most utilized verification tool identified. Moreover, Validation is a frequently used MDE technique, and Model-to-text transformation with Acceleo is the most utilized transformation type in the selected studies. The comprehensive results of this research provide valuable guidance for DSM researchers and practitioners in choosing a suitable tool and technique that meets their specific requirements.