Metamodel extension approach applied to the model-driven development of mobile applications

Mobile application development is one of the most promising domains in the software industry. The rapid growth of hardware and emerging technologies has resulted in a large number of mobile platforms, which constitutes a challenge that developers must face when they build applications for different platforms. The model-based artefacts co-evolution is another challenge when metamodel evolves. This paper introduces a model-driven approach for managing the metamodel evolution in the context of cross-platform mobile application development. Firstly, we propose an MDD approach, based on a generic DSL and a set of code generators to generate platform-specific source code. Secondly, the approach provides a graphical framework: (i) to extend the original metamodel through a set of rules, (ii) to define the mapping between the newly added meta-elements and their corresponding in the target platforms and (iii) to automatically update existing code generators. This paper demonstrates the potentials and limits of our approach through a concrete case study.