General-purpose modeling

General-Purpose Modeling (GPM) is the systematic use of a General-Purpose Language (GPL) to represent the various facets of an object or a system. The best known example of a GPM language is the Unified Modeling Language (UML), the industry standard for modeling software-intensive systems. Contrast GPM languages with Domain-Specific Modeling (DSM) languages, which like Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs), are maturing and becoming a viable alternative to GPM languages.

Examples of modeling languages that are not general purpose are model transformation languages like [QVT] or [ATLAS Transformation Language|ATL]. As a matter of fact [QVT] defines a family of transformation languages (i.e. DSLs) that may produce target MOF-models from source MOF-models. Of course it is also possible to use general purpose programming languages like Java to write classical model transformation programs.

See also