Language-Independent Traceability with Lässig

Typical programming languages, including model transformation languages, do not support traceability. Applications requiring inter-object traceability implement traceability support repeatedly for different domains. In this paper we introduce a solution for generic traceability which enables the generation of trace models for all programming languages compiling to Virtual Machine (VM) bytecode by leveraging automatically generated observer aspects. We implement our solution in a tool called Lassig adding traceability support to all programming languages compiling to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). We evaluate and discuss general feasibility, correctness, and the performance overhead of our solution by applying it to three model-to-model transformations. Our generic traceability solution is capable of automatically establishing complete sets of trace links for transformation programs in various languages and at a minimum cost. Lassig is available as an open-source project for integration into modeling frameworks