The 8th OOPSLA Workshop on Domain-Specific Modeling Nashville, TN, USA    19-20 October, 2008

Call for Papers

Domain-Specific Modeling (DSM) provides a modern solution to demands for higher productivity by constricting the gap between problem and solution modeling. In the past, productivity gains have been sought from new programming languages. Today, domain-specific modeling languages provide a viable solution for continuing to raise the level of abstraction beyond coding, making development faster and easier.

In DSM the models are constructed using concepts that represent things in the application domain, not concepts of a given programming language. The modeling language follows the domain abstractions and semantics, allowing developers to perceive themselves as working directly with domain concepts. The models represent simultaneously the design, implementation and documentation of the system, which can be generated directly from them. In a number of cases the final products can be automatically generated from these high-level specifications with domain-specific code generators. This automation is possible because of domain-specificity: both the modeling language and code generators fit to the requirements of a narrowly defined domain, usually inside one company only.

More investigation is still needed in order to advance the acceptance and viability of domain-specific modeling. This workshop welcomes three types of submissions:

1. Full papers describing ideas at either a practical or theoretical level. Full papers should emphasize what is new and significant about the chosen approach and compare it to other research work in the field. The maximum length of a full paper is 4000 words.
2. Position papers describing work in progress or an author’s position regarding current DSM practice. The maximum length of a position paper is 2000 words.
3. DSM demonstrations describing a particular language, generator or tool for a particular domain. The maximum length of a position paper is 2000 words. During the workshop, the DSM solution presented in the paper can be demonstrated to the participants.

The goals of this year’s workshop are to focus on creation of DSM solution and demonstrate the DSM solutions that have been developed. Some suggested topics for the workshop include, but are not limited to:

• Industry/academic experience reports describing success/failure in implementing and using domain-specific languages/tools
• Approaches to identify constructs for domain-specific languages
• Tools for supporting domain-specific modeling
• Approaches to implement metamodel-based modeling languages
• Novel approaches for code generation from domain-specific models
• Issues of support/maintenance for systems built with DSMs
• Evolution of languages in accordance with domain
• Metamodeling frameworks and languages
• Version control techniques for DSMs
• Techniques for supporting (meta)model interchange between tools
• Relationships between ontologies and metamodels
• Demonstrations of the working DSM solutions (languages, generators, frameworks, tools)
• Specific domains where this technology can be most productive in the future (e.g., DSMs to describe aspects of embedded systems, product families, systems with multiple implementation platforms)
• Separation of concerns and the application of new modularity technologies (e.g., aspect-oriented/subject-oriented) to domain-specific languages

Important Dates

Submission Information

Papers should be submitted electronically at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=oopsladsm08 in PDF format. Submitted papers must conform to the ACM SIGPLAN conference style, using 9pt font (see guidelines at http://www.sigplan.org/authorInformation.htm). The accepted papers will be published in the printed proceedings and posted on the workshop web site.

YYou may contact the organizers via email (dsm08 _ at _ dsmforum.org).

Workshop schedule

The program will be published later. You may see see information about the previous workshops, their papers, presentations, demos and group work. At 2008, we expect to have at least paper presentations, demonstrations of DSM solutions and group work sessions.

Above: Group photo from the 6th DSM Workshop

Program committee

• Pierre America, Philips
• Peter Bell, SystemsForge
• Jorn Bettin, Sofismo
• Philip T. Cox, Dalhousie University
• Krzysztof Czarnecki, University of Waterloo
• Brandon Eames, Utah State University
• Ethan Jackson, Microsoft
• Frederic Jouault, University of Nantes
• Jürgen Jung, Deutche Post AG
• Steven Kelly, MetaCase
• Benoit Langlois, Thales
• Gunther Lenz, Microsoft
• Shih-Hsi Liu, California State University, Fresno
• Kalle Lyytinen, Case Western Reserve University
• Pentti Marttiin, Nokia Siemens Networks
• Birger Moller-Pedersen, University of Oslo
• Juha Pärssinen, VTT
• Arturo Sanchez, Univ of North Florida
• Markus Völter, independent consultant
• Jing Zhang, Motorola Research

Organizing committee

• Juha-Pekka Tolvanen, MetaCase
• Jeff Gray, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Matti Rossi, Helsinki School of Economics
• Jonathan Sprinkle, University of Arizona