Laurent Redor Unedic

" We used Acceleo in a project providing a full toolsuite on a proprietary framework. Acceleo is used to generate Java classes, XML files, HTML documentation, JSP files and configuration files.

The generator module has been developped by the technical team and used by the functional teams generating the application skeletons from the business model. All this code used to be generated via XSL stylesheets and XML files. In a nutshell the XML files have been replaced by EMF models (using an Unedic specific metamodel) and XSL stylesheets by Acceleo templates.

On our side, the pros for Acceleo are the following:

• better templates readibility compared to stylesheets : XSL files quickly become unreadable and overly complex
• simplicity : Acceleo templates are easier to use than XSL stylesheets. You only need a little training to become able to write your own templates.
• good tooling : Acceleo provides template editors, wizards .... In a nutshell all these tools ease the use of Acceleo. We formerly used javajet and the strongest reproach we had was its lack of tools.
• lively community : The Acceleo team is responsive and quickly answers when users face issues.

Of course we also noticed downsides:

• Generation time : There are no miracles, generating code may take time, depending on the size of your model and your templates complexity. But that's true for any kind of code generator.
• Source Control : we are using Clearcase as a source control system, and Acceleo was not handling this kind of "pessimistic" source control. Obeo developped a specific plugin in order to handle Clearcase but it's not yet fully integrated in Acceleo.

Compared to what we knew, our opinion is positive. "

François Gaudin Makina Corpus

" I discovered MDE during a school project on MIA Generation. We had to generate a dynamic XML reader/writer for a given XML schema. I’ve immediatly noticed how fun it could be to generate database persistence for a website. [..]

. A pros for Acceleo is its basement on Eclipse. It provides a complete environment for MDE with EMF (to define a DSL) and GMF (to define a user-friendly modeler). It’s quick to understand and problems you encounter are more due to modelisation or architecturing than the tool Acceleo. Even if I or some other users can have more feature requirements, Acceleo manages very well to do what it is intended for : generate code. "

The full testimonial on Acceleo Feedback .

Jérôme Benois Argia Engineering

" [..] After trying AndroMDA, I created my own tool PragMaTic in order to offer a more flexible solution and aimed at being simpler to apprehend. but then, Acceleo appeared in the Open-Source landscape!

Convinced by the power of this new platform, and the dynamism of Acceleo Team, I decided to join this community. I rewrote with ease the majority of my generators towards this platform. I appreciate the richness of documentation, as well as the quality of integration to the Eclipse platform. I use Topcased and Acceleo for UML2 modeling & generation.[..] "

The full testimonial on Acceleo Feedbacks .

Pascal Lindelauf Yellowtail

"I'd just like to say that I think Acceleo would make a great basis for the Eclipse Model-To-Text Project. Yellowtail has always been looking for ways to fundamentally fasten its software development efforts.    Having tried Acceleo with our latest project, I have to say that this has been one of the most promising MDD/MDA type of technology we've seen up until now.    Its really practical approach on MDA has allowed us to apply it most successfully in our project. [...]"

The full testimonial on Practical MDA with Acceleo .

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