Model integration is inescapable: any non-trivial system will be too large to fit sensibly in a single model.
The model will have to be split, maybe into different aspects or languages, different modeler roles and tasks, different phases of the software development life cycle, etc.
In Domain-Specific Modeling, the possibilities to integrate models are fundamentally better than with general-purpose languages as the company has full access to the language definitions.
We describe and compare different ways to integrate DSM models, based on real world experience of what has been shown to work in practice on industrial scales.
Software ArchitectureBy representing the Web as a cylinder, each layer is shown as an integral part of the whole.There is no disruption of the model by adding more complex model elements to each layer.
Software and hardware are present at the front end and the back end, , and are included in all levels of the tiered models.
Networks and the internet layer fall between the front end and the back end, and between Tier 1 and any additional tier.
Network and the internet layer falls between every tier in the N-tier model that is involved in the transaction. The inclusion of signs and metaphors and Information Architecture highlights an essential difference between this model and the others we've explored.
There is no home for either of these highly conceptualized elements in any of the tiered models.