Understanding the Landscape of Software Modelling Assistants for MDSE tools: A Systematic Mapping

Model Driven Software Engineering (MDSE) and low-code/no-code software development tools promise to increase quality and productivity by modelling instead of coding software. One of the major advantages of modelling software is the increased possibility of involving diverse stakeholders since it removes the barrier of being IT experts to actively participate in software production processes. From an academic and industry point of view, the main question remains: What has been proposed to assist humans in software modelling tasks? In this paper, we systematically elucidate the state of the art in assistants for software modelling and their use in MDSE and low-code/no-code tools. We conducted a systematic mapping to review the state of the art and answer the following research questions: i) how is software modelling assisted? ii) what goals and limitations do existing modelling assistance proposals report? iii) which evaluation metrics and target users do existing modelling assistance proposals consider? For this purpose, we selected 58 proposals from 3.176 screened records and reviewed 17 MDSE and low-code/no-code tools from main market players published by the Gartner Magic Quadrant. We clustered existing proposals regarding their modelling assistance strategies, goals, limitations, evaluation metrics, and target users, both in research and practice. We found that both academic and industry proposals recognise the value of assisting software modelling. However, documentation about MDSE assistants' limitations, evaluation metrics, and target users is scarce or non-existent. With the advent of artificial intelligence, we expect more assistants for MDSE and low-code/no-code software development will emerge, making imperative the need for well-founded frameworks for designing modelling assistants focused on addressing target users' needs and advancing the state of the art.