Traditional software engineering is labor intensive, error prone and rarely meets budget or time targets. And when an application is finally finished, new requirements emerge… Therefore higher efficiency in software development is needed being able to keep up the pace necessary for a successful market participation.
Higher productivity, shorter time-to-market and easier manageable projects are the promises of a model-driven development approach, but to honor that pledge the used methodologies, technological frameworks and human resources must carefully be chosen.
With OSBP we will provide an environment for repeatable high-quality and efficient software development of business applications.
The Open Standard Business Platform (OSBP) comprises a model-based software factory composed of extensible frameworks, tools and runtime environments for building, deploying and managing business applications across their lifecycles.
The Open Standard Business Platform (OSBP) comprises a model-based software factory composed of extensible frameworks, tools and runtime environments for building, deploying and managing business applications across their lifecycles.
After 30 years of experience in object oriented development of ERP Software with several 10.000 users we have identified throughout the years reusable abstractions of business typical domains which can also be used in other software development areas. We have documented them amongst others in form of models which are persisted in DSL, customized if needed, transformed in source code for example Java which can be of course deployed.
Model driven and therefore more efficient and sustainable, with OSBP organizations can design their individual business processes using its customizable and extendable reference model with worldwide approved engineering methods.
OSBP delivers a software factory, which allows to build business applications on basis of EMF models. This is accomplished through either code generation, or interpreting of models at runtime. The different layers within OSBP’s multilayered architecture are represented as models and persisted in DSL. This enables developers to create all kind of business applications that can be easily modified and extended to meet new requirements. OSBP’s concept thoroughly supports the development and maintenance of software applications at an industrial quality level.
With OSBP users can take advantage of built-in 30+ frameworks, covering practically all different aspects of engineering business applications: presentation, business logic, security, data management tasks, services, etc.
While delivering the base for numerous business applications, Eclipse is mostly seen as an IDE and technology enabler. Projects such as OSBP will deliver the necessary equipment for developing business solutions in more efficient and faster manner. OSBP closes the gaps in business software engineering, which we identified as a business applications development company.
Respecting Open Standards, we have chosen the Eclipse Ecosystem as IDE and a solid technology stack to support this business platform. In addition to the Eclipse projects utilized, a whole set of other open source frameworks have been integrated (see third party libraries in the initial contribution section).
Relationship with other Eclipse Projects
Project
Description
Equinox
OSBP utilizes Equinox as an implementation of the OSGi core framework specification.
EMF
EMF as modeling framework and code generation facility delivers the basis for model-driven software development with OSBP.
Xtext (Xtend, Xbase)
In OSBP the domain specific languages are defined using Xtext as a powerful grammar language. Xtext comes with a full infrastructure, including parser, linker, type checker and compiler.
Sirius
OSBP contains modeling workbench created with Sirius in order to create, edit and visualize EMF models.
Birt
In OSBP, BIRT is used to address a wide range of reporting needs within a typical application, ranging from operational or enterprise reporting to multi-dimensional online analytical processing (OLAP).
eclipse link
Eclipse Link delivers Java persistence solution addressing relational, XML and database Web services.
Gemini Naming
The Gemini Naming project implements support for using the Java Naming and Directory Interface™ (JNDI) within an OSGi environment.
UOMo
UOMo adds units of measurement support in OSBP both to language and data.
Tapiji (part of Eclipse Babel project)
TapiJI represents a set of smart tools which allow for building multilingual applications.
Jetty
Jetty Application Server is an embedded web server and servlet container.
- March 2016: OSBP Proposal under eclipse.org
- April 2016: Provisional code in Eclipse repository
- Mai 2016: OSBP Project status created; Build based on code in Eclipse repository available
- 2017: OSBP as a formal part of the Eclipse release train
There is an ongoing development of OSBP with several functional enhancements such as modeling complex dialogs (cross-DTO), offline mobile capabilities and IoT extensions. Model composers are also in work, which will enable a “wizard”-like approach of creating new applications.