Domain-Driven Design Using Meta-Attributes: A DSL-Based Approach

Applying object-oriented domain-driven design in practice requires bridging the gaps that exist among the perceived domain class models of the key stakeholders involved. In this paper, we propose a domain-driven design method that uses meta-attributes with an aim to fill these gaps. Our method extends and generalises a previous work to use meta-attributes to build the domain class model. The meta-attributes are designed to not only make it easier for the designer and domain expert to collaboratively capture the domain-specific requirements in the model, but to ease the translation of the model to design specification. This specification is written in an object-oriented, internal DSL. To increase productivity, we define a generator function that realises the meta-mapping between the state and behaviour spaces of a domain class to automatically generate its behavioural specification. We demonstrate our method with an implementation in a prototyping tool for the domain class model.