The Usage of Models in Model-Driven Software Engineering

During the Software Systems module of the Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of Twente, students learn how to produce code based on Model-driven Software Engineering (MDE). They are familiarized with different kind of Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagrams to model software systems. The topics that are taught are part of the knowledge base of MDE. This research looks into the recognition of diagram types and which design models are actually used by practitioners. The result of this research could be used for an improvement to the Computer Science MDE curriculum, but also for other technical studies at the University of Twente (UT) where students learn how to develop a software system. The curricula could be adapted so that they are more fitting to what is used by practitioners in the field of software engineering. From the results it is concluded that practitioners prefer to use self designed syntax over the UML syntax. Generally, the use of design is not prominent. However, when there are diagrams, they mostly present the architecture of the system.