Using Patterns for the Refinement and Translation of UML Models: A Controlled Experiment

Abstract This paper presents a controlled experiment, conducted at the University of Kaiserslautern which evaluates an approach known as SORT, for the systematic refinement and translation of UML Diagrams. Specifically, the experiment inves-tigates the effects of SORT, with respect to the mapping of object-oriented UML design models to source code, by comparing the effects of different approaches to such mappings (SORT and ad-hoc1) on the quality attributes understandability, verifiability, and effort (time). The experimental results demonstrate that OO systems developed by applying SORT are more understandable and verifiable. In summary, SORT can help to improve the quality of software systems, but its application alone does not guarantee quality