W.: Let’s Play the Token Game – Model Transformations Powered by Transformation Nets

Abstract. Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is a software engineering paradigm using abstract models to describe systems which are then sys-tematically transformed to concrete implementations. Since model trans-formations are crucial for the success of MDE, several kinds of dedicated transformation languages have been proposed. Hybrid languages com-bine the statefulness and the ability to define control flow of imperative approaches with the raised level of abstraction of declarative ones. How-ever the low-level engines employed to execute transformations lead to an impedance mismatch between specification and execution of model trans-formations which hampers debugging. Additionally, current approaches lack of appropriate reuse mechanisms for resolving recurring transfor-mation problems. Therefore, we propose a process-oriented specification and execution of model transformations based on Transformation Nets, a variant of Colored Petri Nets (CPNs). By using Transformation Nets, the benefits of imperative and declarative approaches are combined, not only for the specification of model transformations, but also for their ex-ecution by using CPNs themselves as a transformation engine. Further-more, Transformation Nets introduce a novel notation for implementing transformation logic within transitions to foster reuse