Comparative Analysis to Validate Benefits of Formal and Informal Software Model Transformations

In object-oriented development, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the ISO/IEC standard modeling language. In relational database development, entity-relationship models are traditionally been use for modeling. Transforming from one model to the other is of great importance in developmental environments where this is required. There are several techniques for transforming UML models to object-relational database systems. Prior research effort examined the benefits of two such approaches. That work, sought to determine the benefits of one approach (formal technique) versus the benefits of the other approach (informal technique), by way of comparative analysis. The results of such work have to be validated, in order for it to become acceptable and its implication applied in software development decision making. In this work, an attempt to apply a similar comparative analysis on a model from a different application domain (Kalman Filter Program Representation), from that which was used in the first study an (Airline Flight Reservation System) was conducted. The goal of this research is to provide validation of the usefulness of this type of transformation.