Platform-specific model: Difference between revisions

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A '''platform-specific model''' is a model of a software or business system that is linked to a specific technological platform (e.g. a specific [[programming language]], [[operating system]] or [[database]]). Platform-specific models are indispensable for the actual implementation of a system.

Say for example that you want to implement an online shop. The system will need to store information regarding users, goods, credit cards, etc. You might decide that you will use for this purpose an [[Oracle database]]. For this to work you will need to express your concepts (e.g. the concept of ana user) in a [[relational model]] using the [[Oracle database|Oracle]]'s [[SQL]] dialect. This [[Oracle database|Oracle]]'s specific [[relational model]] is an example of a ''Platform-specific model''.

The term ''platform-specific model'' is most frequently used in the context of the [[model-driven architecture|MDA]] approach. This '''MDA''' approach corresponds the [[Object Management Group|OMG]] vision of [[Model Driven Engineering]]. The main idea is that it should be possible to use a [[Model Transformation Language|MTL]] to transform a [[Platform-independent model]] into a Platform-specific model. In order to achieve this transformation, one can use a language compliant to the newly defined [[QVT]] standard. Examples of such languages are [[AndroMDA]], [[VIATRA]] or [[ATLAS Transformation Language|ATL]].