Measuring and Reducing Modeling Effort in Domain-Specific Modeling Languages with Examples

Domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) facilitate rapid and ``correct-by-construction'' realization of concepts for the target domain. Although DSMLs provide such benefits, there is implied (or hidden) modeling effort---in terms of user actions---associated with using a DSML that can negatively impact its effectiveness. It is therefore critical that DSML developers understand the meaning of modeling effort and how to reduce it so their DSML is of high quality. This paper provides two contributions to research on developing DSMLs. First, the paper defines a metric for measuring model effort. Secondly, this paper discusses several techniques, with examples, reducing (or improving) modeling effort. The techniques discussed in the paper have been applied to an open-source DSML called the Platform Independent Component Modeling Language (PICML), which is currently used in both academic and industry settings for designing and implementing large-scale distributed systems. Finally, results show that it is possible to reduce modeling effort without requiring user studies to analyze such concerns.