The design of evolutionary process modeling languages

To formalize a software process, its important aspects must be extracted as a model. Many processes are used repeatedly, and the ability to automate a process is also desired. One approach is to use a notation that already exists, such as a programming language, and extend it. However, the intricacies and restrictions the programming language places on the ability to succinctly and clearly describe a process can be problematic. An alternative approach is to develop a language specifically for describing processes. A significant disadvantage of this approach, however, is the lack of tool support for ensuring model correctness. We discuss a high-level language that encourages evolutionary model development and describe a tool for performing model verification. We have used our language and tool on the NetBeans model for distributed software development.