44,478 research outputs found
Rationale Management Challenges in Requirements Engineering
Rationale and rationale management have been playing an increasingly prominent role in software system development mainly due to the knowledge demand during system evaluation, maintenance, and evolution, especially for large and complex systems. The rationale management for requirements engineering, as a commencing and critical phase in software development life cycle, is still under-exploited. In this paper, we first survey briefly the state-of-the-art on rationale employment and applications in requirements engineering. Secondly, we identify the challenges in integrating rationale management in requirements engineering activities in order to promote further investigations and define a research agenda on rationale management in requirements engineering.
A framework for the definition of metrics for actor-dependency models
Actor-dependency models are a formalism aimed at providing intentional
descriptions of processes as a network of dependency relationships among
actors. This kind of models is currently widely used in the early phase of
requirements engineering as well as in other contexts such as organizational
analysis and business process reengineering. In this paper, we are
interested in the definition of a framework for the formulation of metrics
over these models. These metrics are used to analyse the models with respect
to some properties that are interesting for the system being modelled, such
as security, efficiency or accuracy. The metrics are defined in terms of the
actors and dependencies of the model. We distinguish three different kinds
of metrics that are formally defined, and then we apply the framework at two
different layers of a meeting scheduler system.Postprint (published version
Implementing a Business Process Management System Using ADEPT: A Real-World Case Study
This article describes how the agent-based design of ADEPT (advanced decision environment for processed tasks) and implementation philosophy was used to prototype a business process management system for a real-world application. The application illustrated is based on the British Telecom (BT) business process of providing a quote to a customer for installing a network to deliver a specified type of telecommunication service. Particular emphasis is placed upon the techniques developed for specifying services, allowing heterogeneous information models to interoperate, allowing rich and flexible interagent negotiation to occur, and on the issues related to interfacing agent-based systems and humans. This article builds upon the companion article (Applied Artificial Intelligence Vol.14, no 2, pgs. 145-189) that provides details of the rationale and design of the ADEPT technology deployed in this application
On Agent-Based Software Engineering
Agent-based computing represents an exciting new synthesis both for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, more generally, Computer Science. It has the potential to significantly improve the theory and the practice of modeling, designing, and implementing computer systems. Yet, to date, there has been little systematic analysis of what makes the agent-based approach such an appealing and powerful computational model. Moreover, even less effort has been devoted to discussing the inherent disadvantages that stem from adopting an agent-oriented view. Here both sets of issues are explored. The standpoint of this analysis is the role of agent-based software in solving complex, real-world problems. In particular, it will be argued that the development of robust and scalable software systems requires autonomous agents that can complete their objectives while situated in a dynamic and uncertain environment, that can engage in rich, high-level social interactions, and that can operate within flexible organisational structures
A Systematic Mapping Study on Requirements Engineering in Software Ecosystems
Software ecosystems (SECOs) and open innovation processes have been claimed
as a way forward for the software industry. A proper understanding of
requirements is as important for these IT-systems as for more traditional ones.
This paper presents a mapping study on the issues of requirements engineering
and quality aspects in SECOs and analyzes emerging ideas. Our findings indicate
that among the various phases or subtasks of requirements engineering, most of
the SECO specific research has been accomplished on elicitation, analysis, and
modeling. On the other hand, requirements selection, prioritization,
verification, and traceability has attracted few published studies. Among the
various quality attributes, most of the SECOs research has been performed on
security, performance and testability. On the other hand, reliability, safety,
maintainability, transparency, usability attracted few published studies. The
paper provides a review of the academic literature about SECO-related
requirements engineering activities, modeling approaches, and quality
attributes, positions the source publications in a taxonomy of issues and
identifies gaps where there has been little research.Comment: Journal of Information Technology Research (JITR) 11(1
- …