Notations and Meta-Models
The UML, in its current state, defines a notation and a meta-model.
The notation is the graphical stuff you see in models; it is the syntax of the modeling language. For instance, class diagram notation defines how items and concepts such as class, association, and multiplicity are represented.
Of course, this leads to the question of what exactly is meant by an association or multiplicity or even a class. Common usage suggests some informal definitions, but many people want more rigor than that.
The idea of rigorous specification and design languages is most prevalent in the field of formal methods. In such techniques, designs and specifications are represented using some derivative of predicate calculus. Such definitions ...
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