There are some systems that will take a software design (UML) and write code for it. Said code has certain benefits - consistent (if dull) naming conventions, type-safety, syntax-bug free, etc. For very boring business-logic type applications, it can be a shortcut. On the whole, I tend to view it as a bear on a unicycle - an entertaining trick with very little redeeming value. We may come to a point 15 or 20 years from now where "programmers" can debug an abstraction like UML, but for now you always have to go into the code. I wouldn't describe it as "common", however - at least not in the places I have worked.