A brief description of Model Driven Architecture (MDA) from the Object Management Group

Q: What is the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and how is it different from other architectures?

A: The MDA is a new way of writing specifications, based on a platform-independent model. A complete MDA specification consists of a definitive platform-independent base UML model, plus one or more platform-specific models and interface definition sets, each describing how the base model is implemented on a different middleware platform.

The MDA focuses primarily on the functionality and behavior of a distributed application or system, not the technology in which it will be implemented. It divorces implementation details from business functions. Thus, it is not necessary to repeat the process of modeling an application or system’s functionality and behavior each time a new technology (e.g., XML/SOAP) comes along. Other architectures are generally tied to a particular technology. With MDA, functionality and behavior are modeled once and only once. Mapping to the supported MDA platforms will be implemented by tools, easing the task of supporting new or different technologies.