Graph transformation as a meta language for dynamic modeling and model evolution

A major concern of software evolution is to achieve and maintain consistency between both different (sub)systems and different layers of the same system. Based on a concep-tual model of distributed systems which distinguishes the three layers of objects, software, and hardware components and, orthogonally, a type and an instance level, we discuss solutions to several consistency problems. We classify the state changes a system experiences during its lifetime as the system’s dynamics (if the changes happen at the instance level) and the evolution of the system (if the type or schema level is affected). An approach based on graph transforma-tion and meta modeling is used to formalize these concepts. 1. Consistency Problems in Software Evolution One of the major forces driving software evolution to