Background
ATL is an open source software that has been developped in Nantes in the ATLAS research team, who is attached
to the INRIA and to the LINA.
The first works on model transformation dates back from the 90's with a first
publication in 1998 of a PhD at the Nantes University.
This work has influenced the QVT
standard provided by the OMG several years later.
Based on this standard, a first implementation of the ATL language was made during the
CARROLL/MOTOR project (CEA, Thales and INRIA collaboration).
This first contribution was then improved within several collaborative projects such as ModelWare, ModelPlex, Usine Logicielle or OpenEmbeDD.
The ATL technology was quickly integrated within the Eclipse foundation in the GMT project,
who stands as an incubator for modeling research activities under Eclipse.
ATL is used by a large community and Eclipse has promoted ATL from a research technology up to an industrial one within the
M2M project.
Thanks to its internationnal visibility, ATL is now recognized as a leading technology for model transformation.
ATL is a free software available under the EPL license.
As for EMF,
ATL is becoming a major framework of the EMP project (Eclipse Modeling Project).