458 research outputs found
User Experience for Model-Driven Engineering : Challenges and Future Directions
Since its infancy, Model Driven Engineering (MDE) research has primarily focused on technical issues. Although it is becoming increasingly common for MDE research papers to evaluate their theoretical and practical solutions, extensive usability studies are still uncommon. We observe a scarcity of User eXperience (UX)-related research in the MDE community, and posit that many existing tools and languages have room for improvement with respect to UX [26], [44], [37], where UX is a key focus area in the software development industry. We consider this gap a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed by the community if MDE is to gain widespread use. In this vision paper, we explore how and where UX fits into MDE by considering motivating use cases that revolve around different dimensions of integration: model integration, tool integration, and integration between process and tool support. Based on the literature and our collective experience in research and industrial collaborations, we propose future directions for addressing these challenges
A taxonomy of tool-related issues affecting the adoption of model-driven engineering
Although poor tool support is often blamed for the low uptake of model-driven engineering (MDE), recent studies have shown that adoption problems are as likely to be down to social and organizational factors as with tooling issues. This article discusses the impact of tools on MDE adoption and practice and does so while placing tooling within a broader organizational context. The article revisits previous data on MDE use in industry (19 in-depth interviews with MDE practitioners) and reanalyzes that data through the specific lens of MDE tools in an attempt to identify and categorize the issues that users had with the tools they adopted. In addition, the article presents new data: 20 new interviews in two specific companiesâand analyzes it through the same lens. A key contribution of the paper is a loose taxonomy of tool-related considerations, based on empirical industry data, which can be used to reflect on the tooling landscape as well as inform future research on MDE tools
The relevance of model-driven engineering thirty years from now
International audienceAlthough model-driven engineering (MDE) is now an established approach for developing complex software systems, it has not been universally adopted by the software industry. In order to better understand the reasons for this, as well as to identify future opportunities for MDE, we carried out a week-long design thinking experiment with 15 MDE experts. Participants were facilitated to identify the biggest problems with current MDE technologies, to identify grand challenges for society in the near future, and to identify ways that MDE could help to address these challenges. The outcome is a reflection of the current strengths of MDE, an outlook of the most pressing challenges for society at large over the next three decades, and an analysis of key future MDE research opportunities
Engineering secure systems: Models, patterns and empirical validation
Several development approaches have been proposed to handle the growing complexity of software system design. The most popular methods use models as the main artifacts to construct and maintain. The desired role of such models is to facilitate, systematize and standardize the construction of software-based systems. In our work, we propose a model-driven engineering (MDE) methodological approach associated with a pattern-based approach to support the development of secure software systems. We address the idea of using patterns to describe solutions for security as recurring security problems in specific design contexts and present a well-proven generic scheme for their solutions. The proposed approach is based on metamodeling and model transformation techniques to define patterns at different levels of abstraction and generate different representations according to the target domain concerns, respectively. Moreover, we describe an operational architecture for development tools to support the approach. Finally, an empirical evaluation of the proposed approach is presented through a practical application to a use case in the metrology domain with strong security requirements, which is followed by a description of a survey performed among domain experts to better understand their perceptions regarding our approach
Software Development Process Modeling. Developers Perspective to Contemporary Modeling Techniques
Formal software development processes and well-defined development methodologies
are nowadays seen as the definite way to produce high-quality software within
time-limits and budgets. The variety of such high-level methodologies is huge
ranging from rigorous process frameworks like CMMI and RUP to more lightweight
agile methodologies. The need for managing this variety and the fact that
practically every software development organization has its own unique set of development
processes and methods have created a profession of software process
engineers. Different kinds of informal and formal software process modeling languages
are essential tools for process engineers. These are used to define processes
in a way which allows easy management of processes, for example process dissemination,
process tailoring and process enactment.
The process modeling languages are usually used as a tool for process engineering
where the main focus is on the processes themselves. This dissertation
has a different emphasis. The dissertation analyses modern software development
process modeling from the software developersâ point of view. The goal of the
dissertation is to investigate whether the software process modeling and the software
process models aid software developers in their day-to-day work and what are
the main mechanisms for this. The focus of the work is on the Software Process
Engineering Metamodel (SPEM) framework which is currently one of the most
influential process modeling notations in software engineering.
The research theme is elaborated through six scientific articles which represent
the dissertation research done with process modeling during an approximately
five year period. The research follows the classical engineering research discipline
where the current situation is analyzed, a potentially better solution is developed
and finally its implications are analyzed. The research applies a variety of different
research techniques ranging from literature surveys to qualitative studies done
amongst software practitioners.
The key finding of the dissertation is that software process modeling notations
and techniques are usually developed in process engineering terms. As a consequence
the connection between the process models and actual development work
is loose. In addition, the modeling standards like SPEM are partially incomplete
when it comes to pragmatic process modeling needs, like light-weight modeling
and combining pre-defined process components. This leads to a situation, where
the full potential of process modeling techniques for aiding the daily development
activities can not be achieved.
Despite these difficulties the dissertation shows that it is possible to use modeling
standards like SPEM to aid software developers in their work. The dissertation
presents a light-weight modeling technique, which software development teams
can use to quickly analyze their work practices in a more objective manner. The
dissertation also shows how process modeling can be used to more easily compare
different software development situations and to analyze their differences in a
systematic way. Models also help to share this knowledge with others.
A qualitative study done amongst Finnish software practitioners verifies the
conclusions of other studies in the dissertation. Although processes and development
methodologies are seen as an essential part of software development, the
process modeling techniques are rarely used during the daily development work.
However, the potential of these techniques intrigues the practitioners.
As a conclusion the dissertation shows that process modeling techniques, most
commonly used as tools for process engineers, can also be used as tools for organizing
the daily software development work. This work presents theoretical solutions
for bringing the process modeling closer to the ground-level software development
activities. These theories are proven feasible by presenting several case studies
where the modeling techniques are used e.g. to find differences in the work methods
of the members of a software team and to share the process knowledge to a
wider audience.Siirretty Doriast
The Scalability-Efficiency/Maintainability-Portability Trade-off in Simulation Software Engineering: Examples and a Preliminary Systematic Literature Review
Large-scale simulations play a central role in science and the industry.
Several challenges occur when building simulation software, because simulations
require complex software developed in a dynamic construction process. That is
why simulation software engineering (SSE) is emerging lately as a research
focus. The dichotomous trade-off between scalability and efficiency (SE) on the
one hand and maintainability and portability (MP) on the other hand is one of
the core challenges. We report on the SE/MP trade-off in the context of an
ongoing systematic literature review (SLR). After characterizing the issue of
the SE/MP trade-off using two examples from our own research, we (1) review the
33 identified articles that assess the trade-off, (2) summarize the proposed
solutions for the trade-off, and (3) discuss the findings for SSE and future
work. Overall, we see evidence for the SE/MP trade-off and first solution
approaches. However, a strong empirical foundation has yet to be established;
general quantitative metrics and methods supporting software developers in
addressing the trade-off have to be developed. We foresee considerable future
work in SSE across scientific communities.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for presentation at the Fourth
International Workshop on Software Engineering for High Performance Computing
in Computational Science and Engineering (SEHPCCSE 2016
On the Role of Context in the Design of Mobile Mashups
This paper presents a design methodology and an accompanying platform for the design and fast development of Context-Aware
Mobile mashUpS (CAMUS). The approach is characterized by the role given to context as a first-class modeling dimension used to support i) the identification of the most adequate resources that can satisfy the users' situational needs and ii) the consequent tailoring at runtime of the provided data and functions. Context-based abstractions are exploited to generate models specifying how data returned by the selected services have to be merged and visualized by means of integrated views. Thanks
to the adoption of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques, these models drive the flexible execution of the final mobile app on target mobile devices. A prototype of the platform, making use of novel and advanced Web and mobile technologies, is also illustrated
Model-based training of manual procedures in automated production systems
Maintenance engineers deal with increasingly complex automated production
systems (aPSs). Such systems are characterized by an increasing computerization
or the addition of robots that collaborate with human workers. The effects of
changing or replacing components of such systems are difficult to assess since
there are complex interdependencies between process parameters and the state of
the components. This paper proposes a model-based training system that
visualizes these interdependencies using domain-independent SysML models. The
training system consists of a virtual training system for initial training and
an online support system for assistance during maintenance or changeover
procedures. Both systems use structural SysML models to visualize the state of
the machine at a certain step of a procedure. An evaluation of the system in a
changeover procedure against a paper-based manual showed promising results
regarding effectiveness, usability and attractiveness.Comment: 25 pages,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095741581830080
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