Experiments with Fractal on Modular Reflection

Overview & Synopsis

In most reflective systems, the model of reflection objects often mirrors (a part of) the metamodel of the system. As a result, reflection is commonly tightly bound to the rest of the system. In this paper, we investigate the loosening of that coupling. With the rise of domain-specific modeling the need for separation of concerns and reuse when designing metamodels become critical. Therefore, we advocate the use of general design patterns abstracting the details of modeling languages when working on cross-cutting concerns (such as reflection) of a metamodel. Once the abstract patterns for reflection are built, they are mapped onto concrete modeling languages thanks to model engineering tools. In this paper, we apply this approach to the fractal component model. Following this process, reflection mechanisms built at the abstract level are straightforwardly reused and the resulting reflection system gains modularity.