What is it about?
Multi-Level Modeling models often use so-called "powertype structures". Some multi-level modeling languages feature dedicated constructs to model them, while others do not. The paper describes how potency-based multi-level modeling languages without a dedicated construct for modeling powertypes can nevertheless support powertype structures by treating specialization relationships as connections that can be deeply specified.
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Why is it important?
The work is important because it allows powertype structures, that have some pragmatic modeling advantages, to be used in languages that do not explicitly support them, without bloating these languages with an additional construct that needs to be understood by modelers. Multi-level modeling modelers using potency-based languages are already familiar with deep connections and only need to apply their knowledge to specialisations. As a very welcome plus, the proposed approach not only supports powertype structures but also those needed to specify "subordination".
Perspectives
This result is a good example for following the principle of using a small number of powerful concepts in a language that can be combined in powerful ways rather than having a dedicated construct to address a wide range of scenarios.
Thomas Kuehne
Victoria University of Wellington
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Deep Specialization Integrating Powertypes into Deep Modeling, October 2025, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
DOI: 10.1109/models-c68889.2025.00105.
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