Abstract
Background & Purpose: The model as the most important tool in engineering, plays a vital role in the quality of the final product. Model-driven development in software engineering is considered a paradigm shift from object-oriented, which emphasizes models rather than objects. Familiarity with existing knowledge in the field of models plays a significant role in increasing the ability of software engineers. The existence of many concepts, along with diverse or conflicting views, has made it challenging to transfer the existing knowledge in the field of models to people who have recently entered this field.
Methodology: In this article, we intend to specify the existing knowledge in the software models in a formal form by defining a semantic structure of models in the form of an ontology. For this purpose, we create an ontology in the field of software models by presenting a method based on the definition of competency questions and conceptualizing the existing knowledge in this field.
Findings: The ontology created in this article has been evaluated by experts in this field using the approach of examining competency questions. The evaluation results show that this ontology satisfactorily answers the existing knowledge in this field based on the competence questions raised.
Conclusion: The ontology presented in this article makes it possible to resolve the ambiguities in the concepts of this field. The connection of this ontology to other reference ontologies can improve the scope of its application from the field of models to other fields of engineering.