Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM)
The Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM) is a publicly available Object Management Group (OMG) specification. KDM is a common intermediate representation for existing software systems and their operating environments, that defines common metadata required for deep semantic integration of application life cycle management tools.
Purpose and Role: KDM was developed to provide a standard way to represent the various elements of legacy software systems for use in software analysis and modernization. It provides an ontology for the key concepts of software engineering and can be used to perform knowledge discovery processes to extract higher-level information from source code.
Components: The KDM specification is organized into several packages representing different software system aspects. These include the code itself, the data it manipulates, the platform it runs on, etc. Each of these packages includes models and entities related to the corresponding aspect of the software system.
Importance: KDM is important because it provides a standardized way to represent and manipulate the knowledge embedded in legacy software systems. This can be essential for tasks like software modernization, where understanding the existing system is a key first step.
History: The KDM specification was developed by the OMG, which is an international, open membership, not-for-profit technology standards consortium. The OMG has been responsible for several widely used specifications, including the Unified Modeling Language (UML).
Benefits: KDM can make it easier to analyze and modernize these systems by providing a standardized way to represent software systems. It can also facilitate interoperability between different tools and systems.
Pros and Cons:
- Pros: KDM provides a standard, language-independent representation of a software system. This can facilitate more effective analysis and modernization of legacy systems.
- Cons: Using KDM requires a certain level of expertise, and it may not be suitable for all types of software systems. Additionally, while KDM is a standard, its adoption in the industry is not universal, which can limit its effectiveness in some contexts.
Examples: A software analysis tool might use KDM to generate a model of a legacy system. This model could then be used to identify potential issues or areas for improvement, such as overly complex code or not being used.
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