Test Case Generation Using Visual Contracts

Visual contracts provide a diagrammatic notation for pre- and postconditionsas alternative to the Object-Constraint Language (OCL) or code-levelcontract languages. Using visual contracts for testing, we benefit from their executabilityand formal background in graph transformation to provide model-basedtest oracles and coverage criteria. Based on a static analysis of their dependenciesand conflicts, in this paper we use visual contracts to generate test cases accordingto these coverage criteria.Together with previous work, this adds up to a comprehensive approach aiming toautomate the three major challenges of testing through the use of models

Alignment: A New Software Architecture Approach to Support Streamlining Business Processes

Traditional business structures nowadays have to change fast to keep up with customers needs, which is often not possible due to monolithic software architectures and multiple software systems that do neither respond to process requirements nor interact well. Many existing software systems, however, are too complex and too unrelated to the business to support this change accurately. New ways of software architecture are needed to respond to changing requirements and support the business processes. Information systems have to be integrated into the organization’s structures. It seems that a component-based software architecture, which supports the whole value chain, forms the basis for a business process reorganization to enable changes. In this paper we introduce a modeling approach based on Clabjects. We demonstrate how that approach can be applied to an industrial case in order to streamline and support the business processes. Further, this paper further describes the envisioned business process improvements

Constructing Domain-Specific Component Frameworks through Architecture Refinement

Acceptance rate: 38%International audienceRecently, a plethora of domain-specific component frameworks (DSCF) emerges. Although the current trend emphasizes generative programming methods as cornerstones of software development, they are commonly applied in a costly, ad-hoc fashion. However, we believe that DSCFs share the same subset of concepts and patterns. In this paper we propose two contributions to DSCF development. First, we propose DomainComponents --- a high-level abstraction to capture semantics of domain concepts provided by containers, and we identify patterns facilitating their implementation. Second, we develop a generic framework that automatically generates implementation of DomainComponents semantics, thus addressing domain-specific services with one unified approach. To evaluate benefits of our approach we have conducted several case studies that span different domain-specific challenges

Harmonizing CMMI-DEV 1.2 and XP Method to Improve The Software Development Processes in Small Software Development Firms

Most software development organizations are small firms, and they have realized the need to manage and improve their software development and management activities. Traditional Software Process Improvement (SPI) models and standards are not realistic for these firms because of high cost, limited resources and strict project deadlines. Therefore, these firms need a lightweight software development method and an appropriate SPI model to manage and improve their software development and management processes. This study aims to construct a suitable software development process improvement framework for Small Software Development Firms (SSDFs) based on eXtreme Programming (XP) method and Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development Version 1.2 (CMMI-Dev1.2) model. Four stages are involved in developing the framework: (1) aligning XP practices to the specific goals of CMMI-Dev1.2 Key Process Areas (KPAs); (2) developing the proposed software development process improvement framework based on extending XP method by adapting the Extension-Based Approach (EBA), CMMI-Dev1.2, and generic elements of the SPI framework; (3) verifying the compatibility of the proposed framework to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 by using focus group method coupled with Delphi technique; and (4) validating the modified framework by using CMMI-Dev1.2 questionnaire as a main item to validate the suitability of the modified framework for SSDFs, and conducting two case studies to validate the applicability and effectiveness of this framework for these firms. The result of aligning XP practices to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 shows that twelve KPAs are largely supported by XP practices, eight KPAs are partially supported by XP practices, and two KPAs are not-supported by XP practices. The main contributions of this study are: software development process improvement framework for SSDFs, elicit better understanding of how to construct the framework, and quality improvement of the software development processes. There are possible avenues for extending this research to fulfil the missing specific practices of several KPAs, examining other agile practices and using CMMI-Dev1.3 to improve the framework, and conducting more case studie

ADAPTIVE GUIDANCE MODEL BASED SIMILARITY FOR SOFTWARE PROCESS DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT This paper describes a modeling approach SAGM (Similarity fo

Are Forward Designed or Reverse-Engineered UML Diagrams More Helpful for Code Maintenance?: A Controlled Experiment

Context: UML has been the de facto standard notation for modeling object-oriented software systems since its appearance in 1997. UML diagrams are important for maintainers of a system, especially when the software was developed by a different team. These diagrams of the system are not always available, however, and are commonly recovered using Reverse Engineering (RE) techniques. When obtained through RE, UML diagrams have a high level of detail as compared to those developed in the forward design activity. Method: In this paper we report on a comparison of the attitude and performance of maintainers when using these two kinds of diagrams during the maintenance of source code. Our findings were obtained by carrying out a controlled experiment with 40 students of a Master’s degree in Computer Science. Results: The results show a preference for forward design diagrams but do not display significant differences in task performance. The post-experiment survey results have led us to conclude that the subjects did not consider RE diagrams helpful; they found them difficult to understand, particularly the sequence diagrams. In the case of forward design diagrams, subjects considered sequence diagrams as useful, but they did not really employ them. Conclusions: Based on our findings, as regards performance of maintainers, there are no objective results which favor the use of one of these types of diagram in particular, i.e., UML diagrams which come from forwards design, on the one hand, and diagrams obtained from RE, on the other. Subjective opinions do, however, lead us to recommend the use of diagrams created during design. Nevertheless, we realize that the results should be considered as preliminary ones; further replications of this experiment are planned, using students and professionals, the aim being to obtain more conclusive results.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2012-37493-C03-0

Eliminating Failure by Learning from It – Systematic Review of IS Project Failure

Researchers analyzing project success and failure emphasize the prevailing challenge of successfully completing information system (IS) projects. We conduct an extensive systematic literature review of factors that contributed to failure of real-life IS projects. Our resulting overview entails 54 failure factors, which we grouped in 10 categories applying data-driven qualitative content analysis. We extend our holistic overview by linking the factors to specific project failure dimensions and integrating a stakeholder perspective to account for failure responsibility. Our analysis yields widely acknowledged failure factors like insufficient stakeholder involvement as well as less common factors like history of prior successes. Researchers gain insights into project failure factors along with responsible stakeholders and affected failure dimensions, and can use our overview to identify factors or areas of concern to guide future research. Our overview provides a pillar for IS practitioners to learn from others and to eliminate failure by avoiding past mistakes