Domain oriented object reuse based on genetic software architectures.

In this thesis, a new systematic approach is introduced for developing software systems from domain-oriented components. The approach is called Domain Oriented Object Reuse (DOOR) which is based on domain analysis and Generic Software Architectures. The term 'Generic Software Architectures' is used to denote a new technique for building domain reference architectures using architecture schemas. The architecture schemas are used to model the components behaviour and dependency. Components dependencies describe components behaviour in terms of their inter-relationships within the same domain scope. DOOR uses the architecture schemas as a mechanism for specifying design conceptions within the modelled domain. Such conceptions provide design decisions and solutions to domain-specific problems which may be applied in the development of new systems. Previous research in the area of domain analysis and component-oriented reuse has established the need for a systematic approach to component-oriented development which emphasises the presentation side of the solution in the technology. DOOR addresses the presentation issue by organising the domain knowledge into levels of abstractions known to DOOR as sub-domains. These levels are organised in a hierarchical taxonomy tree which contains, in addition to sub-domains, a collection of reusable assets associated with each level. The tree determines the scope of reuse for every domain asset and the boundaries for their application. Thus, DOOR also answers the questions of reuse scope and domain boundaries which have also been raised by the reuse community. DOOR's reuse process combines development for reuse and development with reuse together. With this process, which is supported by a set of integrated tools, a number of guidelines have been introduced to assist in modelling the domain assets and assessing their reusability. The tools are also used for automatic assessment of the domain architecture and the design conceptions of its schemas. Furthermore, when a new system is synthesised, components are retrieved, with the assistance of the tools, according to the scope of reuse within which the system is developed. The retrieval procedure uses the components dependencies for tracing and retrieving the relevant components for the required abstraction

A value and debt aware framework for evaluating compliance in software systems

Today's software systems need to be aligned with relevant laws and other prevailing regulations to control compliance. Compliance refers to the ability of a system to satisfy its functional and quality goals to levels that are acceptable to predefined standards, guidelines, principles, legislation or other norms within the application domain. Addressing compliance requirements at an early stage of software development is vital for successful development as it saves time, cost, resources and the effort of repairing software defects. We argue that the management of compliance and compliance requirements is ultimately an investment activity that requires value-driven decision-making. The work presented in this thesis revolves around improving decision support for compliance by making them value, risk and risk aware. Specifically, this thesis presents an economics-driven approach, which leverages on goal-oriented requirements engineering with portfolio-based thinking and technical debt analysis to enhance compliance related decisions at design-time. The approach is value driven and systematic; it leverages on influential work of portfolio thinking and technical to make the link between compliance requirements, risks, value and debt explicit to software engineers. The approach is evaluated with two case studies to illustrate its applicability and effectiveness

Design: One, but in different forms

This overview paper defends an augmented cognitively oriented generic-design hypothesis: there are both significant similarities between the design activities implemented in different situations and crucial differences between these and other cognitive activities; yet, characteristics of a design situation (related to the design process, the designers, and the artefact) introduce specificities in the corresponding cognitive activities and structures that are used, and in the resulting designs. We thus augment the classical generic-design hypothesis with that of different forms of designing. We review the data available in the cognitive design research literature and propose a series of candidates underlying such forms of design, outlining a number of directions requiring further elaboration