Soon, it will no longer be possible to master the growing complexity of software without the use of software development tools, and in particular Model-driven development tools. TheUnified Modeling Language (UML), especially, has enabled the uniform design of modular software components,including automatic code generation, which removes common coding errors right from the start.

Many companies, however, shy away from the supposed effort required for the changeover to these new techniques. They have a code base that has been built up over decades, and although the software has been constantly extended and improved, this has lead to the creation of more and more ‘spaghetti code’. These potentially millions of lines of code need to be analyzed, re-programmed, and finally re-tested. Or do they?