Statechart development beyond WYSIWYG

Abstract

Modeling systems based on semi-formal graphical formalisms, such as Statecharts, have become standard practice in the design of reactive embedded devices. Statecharts are often more intuitively understandable than equivalent textual descriptions, and their animated simulation can help to visualize complex behaviors. However, in terms of editing speed, project management, and meta-modeling, textual descriptions have advantages. As alternative to the standard WYSIWYG editing paradigm, we present an approach that is also graphical but oriented on the underlying structure of the system under development, and another approach based on a textual, dialect-independent Statechart description language. These approaches have been implemented in a prototypical modeling tool, which encompasses automatic Statechart layout. An empirical study on the usability and practicability of our Statechart editing techniques, including a Statechart layout comparison, indicates significant performance improvements in terms of editing speed and model comprehension compared to traditional modeling approaches. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.