This book constitutes the refereed joint proceedings of four international workshops held in conjunction with the 22nd International Conference on Conceptual Modelling, ER 2003, held in Chicago, IL, USA in October 2003. The 35 revised full papers presented together with introduction to the four workshops were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. In accordance with the respective workshops, the papers are organized in topical sections on conceptual modelling approaches for e-business, conceptual modelling quality, agent-oriented information systems, XML data and schema.

This book draws new attention to domain-specific conceptual modeling by presenting the work of thought leaders who have designed and deployed specific modeling methods. It provides hands-on guidance on how to build models in a particular domain, such as requirements engineering, business process modeling or enterprise architecture. In addition to these results, it also puts forward ideas for future developments. All this is enriched with exercises, case studies, detailed references and further related information. All domain-specific methods described in this volume also have a tool implementation within the OMiLAB Collaborative Environment – a dedicated research and experimentation space for modeling method engineering at the University of Vienna, Austria – making these advances accessible to a wider community of further developers and users. The collection of works presented here will benefit experts and practitioners from academia and industry alike, including members of the conceptual modeling community as well as lecturers and students.

Conceptual modeling is about describing the semantics of software applications at a high level of abstraction in terms of structure, behavior, and user interaction. Embley and Thalheim start with a manifesto stating that the dream of developing information systems strictly by conceptual modeling – as expressed in the phrase “the model is the code” – is becoming reality. The subsequent contributions written by leading researchers in the field support the manifesto's assertions, showing not only how to abstractly model complex information systems but also how to formalize abstract specifications in ways that let developers complete programming tasks within the conceptual model itself. They are grouped into sections on programming with conceptual models, structure modeling, process modeling, user interface modeling, and special challenge areas such as conceptual geometric modeling, information integration, and biological conceptual modeling. The Handbook of Conceptual Modeling collects in a single volume many of the best conceptual-modeling ideas, techniques, and practices as well as the challenges that drive research in the field. Thus it is much more than a traditional handbook for advanced professionals, as it also provides both a firm foundation for the field of conceptual modeling, and points researchers and graduate students towards interesting challenges and paths for how to contribute to this fundamental field of computer science.

This brilliant textbook explains in detail the principles of conceptual modeling independently from particular methods and languages and shows how to apply them in real-world projects. The author covers all aspects of the engineering process from structural modeling over behavioral modeling to meta-modeling, and completes the presentation with an extensive case study based on the osCommerce system. Written for computer science students in classes on information systems modeling as well as for professionals feeling the need to formalize their experiences or to update their knowledge, Olivé delivers here a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the modeling process. His book is complemented by lots of exercises and additional online teaching material.

Domain engineering is a set of activities intended to develop, maintain, and manage the creation and evolution of an area of knowledge suitable for processing by a range of software systems. It is of considerable practical significance, as it provides methods and techniques that help reduce time-to-market, development costs, and project risks on one hand, and helps improve system quality and performance on a consistent basis on the other. In this book, the editors present a collection of invited chapters from various fields related to domain engineering. The individual chapters present state-of-the-art research and are organized in three parts. The first part focuses on results that deal with domain engineering in software product lines. The second part describes how domain-specific languages are used to support the construction and deployment of domains. Finally, the third part presents contributions dealing with domain engineering within the field of conceptual modeling. All chapters utilize a similar terminology, which will help readers to understand and relate to the chapters content. The book will be especially rewarding for researchers and students of software engineering methodologies in general and of domain engineering and its related fields in particular, as it contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on this topic.

Building software is harder than ever. As a developer, you not only have to chase ever-changing technological trends but also need to understand the business domains behind the software. This practical book provides you with a set of core patterns, principles, and practices for analyzing business domains, understanding business strategy, and, most importantly, aligning software design with its business needs. Author Vlad Khononov shows you how these practices lead to robust implementation of business logic and help to future-proof software design and architecture. You'll examine the relationship between domain-driven design (DDD) and other methodologies to ensure you make architectural decisions that meet business requirements. You'll also explore the real-life story of implementing DDD in a startup company. With this book, you'll learn how to: Analyze a company's business domain to learn how the system you're building fits its competitive strategy Use DDD's strategic and tactical tools to architect effective software solutions that address business needs Build a shared understanding of the business domains you encounter Decompose a system into bounded contexts Coordinate the work of multiple teams Gradually introduce DDD to brownfield projects

"Domain-Driven Design" incorporates numerous examples in Java-case studies taken from actual projects that illustrate the application of domain-driven design to real-world software development.