a method for implementing a model - driven architecture , including defining a principal model having a plurality of classes , references , attributes , and associations between any of the classes , the model configured to facilitate the automatic generation of at least one resource for use by a computer - executable application , where a change to the principal model subsequent to performing the automatic generation requires the automatic generation be performed again in order to effect the change for use by the application , defining a decoration model having a class , reference , and attribute for any corresponding one of the primary model classes , references , and attributes , where a change to the decoration model subsequent to performing the automatic generation does not require the automatic generation be performed again in order to effect the change for use by the application , mapping the decoration model to the principal model , and storing both of the models on a computer - readable medium .