Building your dream modeling platform (at the risk of reinventing the wheel)

Abstract

Modeling is more important than ever but after so many years we still waste our time convincing people about the need of modeling. We can discuss all the reasons why this keeps happening but, for sure, a key one is the lack of flexible and agile modeling environments that maximize the ROI (Return On Investment) of companies adopting modelling practices. I dare to say that current modeling platforms (looking at you Eclipse) have failed at that.

Low-code tools are a step in the right direction by streamlining model-driven development processes (beyond being a brilliant marketing term!). But they are limited to classical domains and specific types of business applications. We need a better platform that helps us to quickly show how modelling can be useful in a number of new interdisciplinary scenarios.

During the talk we will present BESSER (“BEtter Smart Software fastER”), a new low-code platform we are designing based on the lessons learnt after developing many other modelling tools. BESSER is planned as a long-term open-source project. I will try to convey why BESSER has the right ingredients for becoming a perfect low-code platform. I hope to even be able to convince some of you to join the initiative and use BESSER in your next modelling project.