Mooop - A hybrid integration of OWL and Java

Abstract

Java is a widespread object-oriented programming language for implementing information systems because it provides means to express various domains of interest. Nevertheless, some fields like Health Care and Life Sciences are so complex that Java is not suited for their design. In comparison, the Web Ontology Language (OWL) provides various powerful modelling constructs and is used to formulate large, well-established ontologies of these domains. OWL cannot, however, be used alone to build applications. Therefore, an integration of both languages, which leverages the advantages of each, is desirable, yet not easy to accomplish. We present Mooop (Merging OWL and Object-Oriented Programming), an approach for the hybrid integration of OWL ontologies into Java systems. It introduces hybrid objects, which represent both an OWL and Java entity. We have developed a prototype of Mooop and evaluated it in a case study. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.