I think this is still doing it a disservice. You don't test a code with a model of the real environment. You execute the code, which was modeling something.
Consider, "F=ma" is a mathematical model relating force to mass and acceleration. You can test this by dropping several things each from the same height and seeing that the force linearly increases based on the mass of what you are dropping. Similarly, you could test the model by accelerating something to a halt at different speeds and seeing how much force is imparted into it.
Is that not a "model" because it is not necessarily graphical?
So, similarly, much CRUD software can be seen as modeling different agents in an overall system and what happens when they interact in certain ways.
Edit: I want to add that I think I see where you are coming from. Many treatments of graphical models like to hold them up as a special form of modeling.
Consider, "F=ma" is a mathematical model relating force to mass and acceleration. You can test this by dropping several things each from the same height and seeing that the force linearly increases based on the mass of what you are dropping. Similarly, you could test the model by accelerating something to a halt at different speeds and seeing how much force is imparted into it.
Is that not a "model" because it is not necessarily graphical?
So, similarly, much CRUD software can be seen as modeling different agents in an overall system and what happens when they interact in certain ways.
Edit: I want to add that I think I see where you are coming from. Many treatments of graphical models like to hold them up as a special form of modeling.