General-purpose modeling

General-Purpose Modeling (GPM) is the systematic use of a General-Purpose modeling Language (GPL) for Domain-Specific Modeling to represent the various facets of an object or a system. Examples of GPM languages are the Unified Modeling Language (UML), an industry standard for modeling software-intensive systems and EXPRESS (ISO 10303-11), an international standard for the specification of data models and Gellish, an industry standard natural language oriented language for storage and exchange of data and knowledge. Contrast GPM languages with dedicated 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 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. It is also possible to use general purpose programming languages like Java to write classical model transformation programs.

See also