I haven't been able to spend much time on this project over the last few weeks. I've done some modelling and fixed a few OOA Tool bugs but I haven't made substantial progress towards getting the next build released. However, some of the bugs might be quite annoying for anyone using the last ALPHA release so I have done another release which can be downloaded from the following link:
2010-02-08_OOATool014_ALPHA2 (8.33 MB)
My enthusiasm still seems to be on holiday at the moment. It better come back soon or I'm going to be pissed! I spent most of this week doing admin stuff and going over last year's progress in detail. I've renamed OOA09 to OOA10. I also moved my whole website onto a new server at www.easily.co.uk to take advantage of a free bandwidth offer. I reinstalled the forum from scratch using the latest version of the software. However, within 5 minutes of installing it I already had several bots trying to register user accounts. I've now disabled user registrations. I would love to get the forum going but anyone who wants to register will now have to email me first.
Below is a summary of last year's progress:
Metamodel Population support.Object Instance Type support.Event Reference Type support.Enumerated Subtype Type and Enumerated State Type support.Ordered Identifier support.ModelElement parents static, added deleted status, improved changed status and used Java generics to specific parent type.ModelElement classes using Java generics to control typing, and added view factory mechanism.Layer concept to Recursive Design subsystem.What it does not include is a working simulator or model compiler. The original goal for 2009 was to get OOA Tool out of BETA which requires working simulation and full translation. What went wrong?
The first thing that went wrong was that I didn't perform enough analysis of the Operation subsystem before I jumped into coding. This is an area that isn't well defined within Shlaer-Mellor or Executable UML, especially with regards to bridging operations. I was also determined to find a role for process models within the framework. The Operation subsystem also interacts with an Action Language subsystem that also isn't well defined with each tool vendor defining their own action language. The result was numerous iterations of ideas and a considerable amount of recoding.
The second thing that went wrong was a number of major refactorings of the OOA Tool code base. These required major effort to complete since the code base is already so large (almost 140K LOC excluding comments). They have improved the code considerably but each major refactoring left me pretty drained. Of course, if I was generating my model element classes from archetype templates and the OOA of OOA then these refactorings would have been much much easier.
The third thing that went wrong was that I made too many changes to the code base making me reluctant to release ongoing builds until a stable build was ready. The OOA Interchange Format and OOA of OOA then got out of step. This turned Build 014 (which has still not been released) into a year long effort rather than a 3 month effort. Not being able to release any stable builds has been a big downer and reduced external interest in the overall project.
So what now? I need to stabilize everything I'm doing. Get Build 014 released. Publish a number of partially complete technical notes that should have been published last year. Make my website notation switchable since I don't like mixing terminology within my web pages and I have no intention of giving up on Shlaer-Mellor notation even though most users are more interested into Executable UML notation. I then need to plan out future builds so that they are more timely. I would still like to get OOA Tool out of BETA this year but I would settle for a working simulator with a version controlled Action Language.
I'll end this week's report with a suggestion that you all have a browse of Kennedy Carter's new redesigned website. Hopefully, they will continue to expand the online content now that it has been refreshed.
Happy New Year everyone. We have still got plenty of snow here in Colchester which is unusual. I'm also just recovering from a stinky cold which I probably picked up in the Costa coffee shop I like to chill out in. I had hoped to be productive over the Christmas period which so didn't happen. Instead, I've read lots of novels. English TV is always full of repeats and rubbish during Christmas. Although one of my favourite BBC shows Being Human has just started a new series.
I need to get my priorities straight this year and ensure that I deliver working code generation in OOA Tool. My biggest problem will be motivation since I have been working on the project for a full 3 years now by myself. Many features (and technical notes) were left unreleased last year because I failed to finish off the features in a releasable form. This must not continue this year. I have decided to allocate another full year to the project. However, after next year I will probably return to mainstream consulting/development for a break and to shore up my finances. The project will still continue part-time after that. I have no doubts about the overall goals and objectives of the project. However, getting other people to participate in the project has been incredibly difficult. I hope more people will contact me this year with a view to contributing or sharing models etc. Drop me an email if you want to get involved.
I have spent the last week tidying and fixing various OOA Tool GUI forms. The process that I am following at the moment is that I start by checking model element classes against the OOA Interchange Format DTD. Once I'm happy there, I move on to checking any associated forms against the model element classes (most have at least one GUI form). Since many of the forms perform derived calculations using temporary information from the forms, their logic must match that used in the model elements themselves. It has not always been easy to eliminate duplication here and that has lead to some errors creeping in.
I also got a little sidetracked adding a navigation button mechanism for reference fields to the form editor. As I tidy up each form now, I'm swapping old reference fields to the new ones allowing users to immediately edit/view any associated model elements. This saves a lot of time when navigating a big model. Check out the data type forms to see this in action.
I had hoped to complete and release OOA Tool 1.0 Build 014 before Christmas but that isn't going to happen now. However, I know some people would like to look at some of the features that I have implemented over the last many months, e.g. polymorphic attributes. Thus, I'm going to release an ALPHA version of OOA Tool which should not be used to create models that you want to keep since you may not be able to load the models into the BETA version that will be released in a few weeks. An ALPHA version of OOA Tool can be downloaded from the following link:
2009-12-23_OOATool014_ALPHA (8.30 MB)Although, the release has been compiled so that it can be run using J2SE 5.0, it should really be run using Java SE 6.0 so that you can see the new Nimbus look and feel in action.
Anyway, it's almost Christmas. Things are slowing down here a lot as usual! We have had lots of snow here in Colchester which is nice. I hope everyone has a good Christmas holiday. Don't forget to start thinking up some New Year resolutions.
I had planned to publish this weekly report Monday but I thought I would just update a few web pages first. I then thought I would tidy up a few form classes fronting some data type classes before finishing changes to one of those pages. Now here we are and its Wednesday! I miss the discipline of working in a team reporting to someone who is always in a hurry.
Anyway, I have started checking my model classes against Version 0.05 of the OOA Interchange Format DTD and noting differences from the previous version. I've also started updating the change log on the main OOA Interchange Format page. I will also shortly be updating the change log in the OOA Tool Read Me detailing overall differences from the previous build. It's been so long since the last build was released I can't even remember what it looked like! I will continue to update these change logs until the next build is released now.
I spent most of the week in the Data Type subsystem since data types were poorly supported in the last build but are fully supported in the next build. This work is now complete except in relation to data type operators which is really part of the Operation subsystem. The only type of data type that is not supported is Composed Type which is discussed in [xtUML02]. Maybe I will add it in the future if I see a good justification for supporting it.
I also updated my References page to include the new book Model-Driven Development with Executable UML by Dragan Milicev [OOISUML09] which I bought from Amazon. It is a very meaty read (786 pages) and I have only just started to read it. Definitely a job to do while relaxing in a Coffee shop. The book discusses a new executable UML profile which it calls OOIS UML. I have yet to find a single mention of xtUML or xUML which is a bit disappointing. Obviously the author didn't want to be associated with any of this work. Dragan Milicev is based out of Belgrade and English probably isn't his first language. Yet, the text book is written in clear plain English (unlike some foreign text books). The author also presents his arguments in a logical incremental way which I like. Don't be put off by the fact that either the author or the publisher thought that the best way to market the book was to stick a big picture of the author on the book's cover! That might be a good strategy if the author was a nice looking lady since most of it's readers would be male but I'm not sure it was a good idea in this case. Anyway, once I have read more of the book, I will give a more complete review.
A friend mentioned that I should take a look at SEMAT which is a new initiative to identify and formalize the theory behind and the kernel processes underpinning good software development practice. It's a very new initiative with a long list of supporters already. However, what do they really hope to accomplish?
Looking at the processes involved in software development is not what is lacking at present in my opinion. We really need to establish higher-order work products that are reusable across a wide user base. These higher-order work products need to be independent from but translatable to multiple platforms. This is what Shlaer-Mellor OOA/RD was (and still is via OOA09) and UML/MDA is meant to be achieving. Unfortunately, 99.99% of all developers continue to program applications with standard programming languages and techniques. As long as developers continue to mix implementation concerns into application concerns, broad reuse will continue to be a dream. An executable model capturing application concerns separately from implementation concerns is the only viable way to move the software industry forward. Who do we want to be doing implementation programming in 50 years? Us? No. Machines should be implementing solutions to our problems. We should be implementing those machines and innovating sophisticated service domains. We should be moving to a world of software factories and engineering laboratories not maintaining software sweatshops.
The articles on the SEMAT website talk about fashion and politics with regard to current software development practice. This will always be the case when you involve lots of people in any activity. I don't think there is much we can do about that. However, the basic premise behind SEMAT which is that a theory and set of kernel processes will make all the difference is wholly wrong in my opinion. I'm not against process initiatives such as the CMM (I haven't really looked at the current incarnation) which can be used to improve software quality within organizations. However, this doesn't move us away from software sweatshops it only ensures product quality and that everyone is sweating at an optimal level!
I won't be adding my support to SEMAT and I don't recommend that anyone else add their support to this mostly pointless initiative especially if you are already contributing to code generation activities elsewhere.
Rant over. I don't have much progress to report this week since I have been bogged down finished off stuff and fixing several bugs. However, I still expect to release Build 014 of OOA Tool before Christmas.
My Internet is back! Life is just not the same without an Internet connection anymore. My girlfriend has been pigging out at the local McDonald's which is the nearest wifi point to our house so that she can run her web business. It brings to mind the Over-Logging episode of South Park where the Internet goes down. I like Virgin as a provider in general but their phone support is unbelievably bad. Even worst than BT's phone support! I only got thru to report a fault by ringing their 'I want to leave' phone number.
Anyway, the last week has not been one of my most productive. I've gotten myself bogged down with Name Management integration changes. I've also found and fixed a few bugs. I like the improvements but what the hell was I thinking when I decided to upgrade Naming to Name Management? I should be focusing on getting Build 014 out. I'm not going to spend anymore time on this report since I'm sure you would all like to see more progress and less chatter!