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Introduction

Intino is an innovative platform designed to automate and simplify the software development process using Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). It enables developers to build, evolve, and maintain software systems with greater efficiency and reduced complexity.

Architectural Vision

The ultimate goal of Intino is to develop a distributed system following big data architecture principles. Every distributed system should begin with a clear definition of the system and its structure. By doing it, organizations can lay the groundwork for a successful distributed system. This approach ensures that all subsequent development aligns with the desired architecture, leading to a cohesive and maintainable solution.

A distributed systems are designed with the following services:

• Data Hub: At the core is a DATAHUB that serves as a central repository for collecting, organizing, and providing access to vast amounts of data. This datahub ensures efficient data ingestion, transformation, and distribution across the entire system.
• Federation: A federation framework, called AMIDAS, underpins user registration and management. This framework securely governs user identity, providing unified access control across business units while ensuring data security and compliance with privacy standards.
• BI Tools: The platform includes a business intelligence tool, called SUMUS, that empower users to analyze and visualize data. This tool help transform raw data into actionable insights, driving better decision-making and operational efficiency.
• Business Units: Intino provides a framework to develop business units. The distributed system is composed of multiple business units, each responsible for handling domain-specific functions. These units operate autonomously yet are integrated within the broader architecture, enabling seamless collaboration and data sharing.

Project structure

Intino's architectural vision is brought to life using IntelliJ as the integrated development environment (IDE) and Java as the primary programming language. This setup allows developers to work within a powerful and flexible environment. Intino acts as a software factory, automating developer workflows and streamlining the system's development process through a custom IntelliJ plugin. This plugin automates various tasks, such as project configuration, module management, and deployment strategies.

By leveraging the plugin's features, developers can quickly set up, build, and maintain a modular distributed system aligned with the architectural vision. This approach reduces the complexity of manual configuration, providing a seamless workflow that integrates coding, testing, and deployment into a unified process. Thus, Intino empowers teams to focus on crafting business logic and domain-specific functionality while the automated tools handle much of the infrastructure work.

1. Setup the environment:
   1. Install IntelliJ: Download and install the IntelliJ IDEA IDE, ensuring it's the most recent version to access the latest features and enhancements.
   2. Set Up Java Development Kit (JDK): Install the appropriate version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) required for your project and configure IntelliJ to recognize it as the primary development environment.
   3. Install the Intino Plugin: Access IntelliJ's plugin marketplace and search for the Intino plugin. Install and enable it to gain access to features that automate the development workflow, such as project setup and module management.
2. Create a New Project: Start by creating a new project in IntelliJ, which will represent the entire distributed system. Ensure that the project structure is flexible enough to accommodate multiple modules.
3. Define Modules for Each Service: Each module will correspond to a specific service (e.g., Data Hub, Federation, BI Tools, and Business Units). Configure each module to contain the necessary code, resources, and configurations specific to that service.
   1. Data Hub Module:. Include all code and configurations related to data ingestion, transformation, and distribution. This module will interact with external data sources and handle the centralized data processing pipeline.
   2. Federation Module: This module should contain the framework for managing user registration and identity. It includes the configurations for secure user access and compliance with data security standards.
   3. BI Tools Module: Incorporate tools and logic needed for data analysis and visualization, enabling users to transform raw data into insights.
   4. Business Units Module: Each business unit can be a submodule, with its own logic and specific dependencies. These modules should align with the business functions they represent.
4. Configure Dependencies:. Use the project's configuration language to specify dependencies, ensuring that each module has access to the required libraries and services.
5. Deployment Strategies:. In each module's build configuration, define how the resulting artifacts will be published and specify the deployment environments or servers. This ensures a consistent, reliable deployment process.
6. Archetype Consistency: Make sure each module follows the project's archetype, ensuring consistent organization of code, resources, and configurations. This will help keep the entire system modular, maintainable, and scalable.

DSL

A significant aspect of Intino's architecture is its reliance on Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs). A DSL is a programming language tailored to a specific application domain. Unlike general-purpose programming languages, which are designed to be versatile and applicable to various tasks, DSLs focus on solving particular problems or tasks.

Key characteristics of DSLs include:

• Abstraction: They contain constructs that directly reflect the concepts of the specific domain, making them more expressive and easier to use than general-purpose languages in that context.
• Productivity: Developers working with DSLs often see productivity gains because the language abstracts and automates common tasks, reducing the amount of boilerplate code needed.
• Consistency: By using a DSL, teams can achieve consistent implementation across similar problem areas, reducing errors and enhancing quality.

Intino leverages DSLs to simplify development, allowing engineers to work at a higher level of abstraction and focus on domain-specific logic. This approach results in faster development, easier maintenance, and improved software quality.

• Quality: Simplified development enables a stable, high-quality architecture.

Benefits

• Reduced Development Time and Costs: By utilizing Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) and Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs), Intino streamlines the software development process. This automation eliminates repetitive tasks and allows developers to focus on solving domain-specific problems, reducing overall development time and costs.
• Faster Software Evolution and Customization: Intino's model-driven approach enables systems to evolve and adapt more quickly. With flexible, reusable components and architecture designed for modularity, developers can tailor solutions to meet changing business requirements or specific customer needs with minimal effort.
• Higher Quality Products Tailored to Specific User Needs: The use of DSLs ensures that the software directly addresses the specialized needs of a given domain, resulting in fewer bugs and inconsistencies. The platform’s architecture also promotes consistent development practices, which improve overall product quality. This allows developers to deliver software that aligns more closely with customer expectations.

Getting Started

Ready to begin with Intino? Follow our Getting Started Guide to set up your development environment and create your first project.

Resources

• Project Definition