A Generic Scheme and Properties of Bidirectional Transformations

The recent rise of interest in bidirectional transformations (BXs) has led to the development of many BX frameworks, originating in diverse computer science disciplines. From a user perspective, these frameworks vary significantly in both interface and predictability of the underlying bidirectionalization technique. In this paper we start by presenting a generic BX scheme that can be instantiated to different concrete interfaces, by plugging-in the desired notion of update and traceability. Based on that scheme, we then present several desirable generic properties that may characterize a BX framework, and show how they can be instantiated to concrete interfaces. This generic presentation is useful when exploring the BX design space: it might help developers when designing new frameworks and end-users when comparing existing ones. We support the latter claim, by applying it in a comparative survey of popular existing BX frameworks.