1. A computer-implemented method for qualified checkpointing of a data flow model having a plurality of data flow operators and a plurality of links connecting the data flow operators, the computer-implemented method comprising: selecting a link of the plurality of links of the data flow model, that satisfies one or more checkpoint criteria from a predefined set of checkpoint criteria; generating a checkpoint for the selected link and by operation of one or more computer processors when executing an application, wherein the checkpoint is selected from retargetable checkpoint, a connection checkpoint, a parallel checkpoint, a bottleneck checkpoint, and a recovery checkpoint, wherein at least four of the retargetable checkpoint, the connection checkpoint, the parallel checkpoint, the bottleneck checkpoint, and the recovery checkpoint are generable by the application, wherein the generated checkpoint is assigned to the selected link; and executing the data flow model, wherein at least one link of the plurality of links of the data flow model has no assigned checkpoint.