The UmpleModel-Oriented Programming Technology:
Easy-to-Use Open-Source Code Generation
Code Generation 2013, Cambridge UK
Timothy C. Lethbridge, University of [email protected]
http://www.eecs.uottawa.ca/~tclhttp://www.umple.org
My backgroundOnce worked at Northern Telecom
Collaborated with originators of ObjecTime / IBM Rational Tools since early 1990’s
Professor of software engineering at University of Ottawa• Have taught software engineering since 1991• Research focuses
—Usability of software engineering tools—Empirical studies
Recent research support: IBM, Ericsson, General Motors, Defense Deptartment
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MotivationFrom our studies of practitioners
• Code generation is weak in widely-deployed tools• Tools are awkward, do not interoperate• Modellers mostly
—do it for documentation—make important errors
From our teaching of modeling• Students learned syntax, but failed to learn
—Semantics—Pragmatics—To create implementable models due to lack of feedback
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Umple: Simple, Ample,UML Programming Language
1. Open source code generator for UML• The only one that has
—Infinitely nested state machines, with concurrency—Proper referential integrity and multiplicity constraints
on associations2. Textual modelling tool set
• Command line compiler• Web-based tool (UmpleOnline) for demos and education• Eclipse plugin
3. Pre-processor to add UML, patterns and other features on top of Java, PhP and other languages
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Exercise: Compiling and Changing a Model
Go to http://helloworld.umple.org
Look at the example at the bottom• Observe: attribute, association, class hierarchy, mixin
Click on Load the above code into UmpleOnline• Observe and modify the diagram• Add an attribute• Make a multiplicity error, then undo• Generate code and take a look• Download, compile and run if you want
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Demo of the command line Umple compiler
Follows conventions of gcc
Used by ant scripts for building
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Umple Philosophy 1-4
P1. Modeling is programming and vice versa
P2. An Umple programmer should never need to edit generated code to accomplish any task.
P3. The Umple compiler can accept and generate code that uses nothing but UML abstractions.
- The above is the inverse of the following
P4. A program without Umple features can be compiled by an Umple compiler.
• e.g. input Java results in the same as output
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Umple Philosophy 5-8
P5. A programmer can incrementally add Umple features to an existing program
• Umplification
P6. Umple extends the base language in a minimally invasive and safe way.
P7. Umple features can be created and viewed diagrammatically or textually
P8. Umple goes beyond UML
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A look at selected Umple features
Attributes• http://attributes.umple.org
Associations• http://associations.umple.org• Notice the inline and independent state machines
State Machines• http://statemachines.umple.org• Switch to ‘GraphViz state diagram’ in the options menu
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Umple Architecture 1
Grammar DSL: Online• http://grammar.umple.org• (we migrated from Antlr to better handle embedded code
blocks and gain flexibility)
Umple is written in itself• Key to testing and reliability• http://code.google.com/p/umple/source/browse/trunk/cru
ise.umple/src/Umple.ump
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Umple Architecture 2
Umple’s own class diagram generated by itself from itself:
• http://metamodel.umple.org• Colours represent key subsystems• Click on classes to see Javadoc, and then Umple Code
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Testing:TDD with100% pass always required
Multiple levels: • Parsing tests: basic constructs• Metamodel tests: ensure it is populated properly
—E.g. http://code.google.com/p/umple/source/browse/trunk/cruise.umple/test/cruise/umple/compiler/AssociationTest.java
• Implementation template tests: to ensure constructs generate code that looks as expected
• Testbed semantic tests: Generate code and make sure it behaves the way it should
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Continuous integrationSmall increments compiled frequently
http://cc.umple.org • Single trunk, no branches for now
Online QA report: http://qa.umple.org
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Code Generation Approach 1
Generation relies on ‘walking’ the metamodel
Where possible, new features are added by layering on top of the existing ones
• e.g. —There was an existing ‘code injection’ feature—Constraints were implemented almost entirely at the
metamodel level by adding ‘before’ and ‘after’ code injections
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Code Generation Approach 2Each generator is a separate plugin and can have a different
architecture
Use Jet templates• Language independent common templates
—http://code.google.com/p/umple/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk%2FUmpleToTemplate%2Ftemplates
• Language-specific templates —http://code.google.com/p/umple/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk%2F
UmpleToJava%2Ftemplates
• Language-specific translation functions—http://code.google.com/p/umple/source/browse/trunk/
cruise.umple/src/Generator_CodeJava.ump
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Code generation lessons from Umple 1Process of developing Umple
• Agile continuous integration• Language written in itself• Multi-level test-driven development
Process for all users of Umple• Modeling and programming at the same level• Many semantic model checks produce warnings & errors• Round trip engineering is banished• Generation of diagrams from text and text from diagrams• IDE Flexibility: Eclipse / Web / Command line• Incremental umplification
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Code generation lessons from Umple 2Language features
• Deep attention to detail in state machines and UML associations
• Mixins for separation of concerns• Multi-lingual generation and embedding• Generated code looks nice
—No ‘Umple runtime’—Can be inspected to gain confidence—No risk adoption
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Evidence of benefit
Umple in use an a couple of small companies
Umple development in itself• 20+ developers
Empirical studies show• Umple code is easier to understand than Java• Helps students learn to model: CSEE&T
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Results of survey
T. Lethbridge CSEE&T 2011 19
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Prof
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T. Lethbridge CSEE&T 2011 20
Availa
bilit
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text
ual f
orm
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odels
and d
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Abilit
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Abilit
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Comparison of GradesComparison of 4 offerings of the same course before
introducing Umple, and 2 offerings afterwards
Midterm examination grades on UML modeling question rose from 75.8% to 82.3%
• 8.6% improvement
Final exam grades on UML modeling questions rose from 76.4% to 83.6%
• 9.4% improvement
Highly statistically significant p<0.00002 on T Test• n=332 prior to Umple; n=137 afterwards
Similar results in 4th year course SEG4110No difference in non-UML questions
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The Near Future
Real time UML/Autosar extensions
Robust C/C++ generation
Application for Eclipse Foundation hosting
Seek industrial uptake
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A Few Direct Web LinksUmpleOnlinehttp://try.umple.org
User Manualhttp://manual.umple.org
Google Code Hosting Sitehttp://code.umple.org
This presentation:http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~tcl/presentations/
UmpleTutorial-CodeGeneration.ppt
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Questions?
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