Tool Support for Model-driven Development of Web Applications

This paper describes the engineering foundations of VisualWADE, a CASE tool to automate the production of Web applications. VisualWADE follows a model-driven approach focusing on requirements analysis, high level design, and rapid prototyping. In this way, an application evolves smoothly from the first prototype to the final product, and its maintenance is a natural consequence of development. The paper also discusses the lessons learned in the development of the tool and its application to several case studies in the industrial context.