Laadunvalvontametodologian ja –järjestelmän käyttö teollisessa sovelluskehityksessä – Soveltuvuustutkimus

Ensuring software quality is important for achieving a competitive advantage in the market. Also, it is essential in critical systems, where a computer program cannot fail under any circumstances. In software projects, the best way to accomplish quality is to continuously monitor the state of the product and the development process. This means, that measurements on the software have to be done. However, as it is not adequate to measure everything, the relevant quality characteristics have to be defined. This is very context-specific and should thus be done for each project separately. In this thesis, the deployment of quality monitoring in software development projects was studied. This included defining a quality model and designing, deploying and using a quality monitoring program. These activities were facilitated by the U-QASAR methodology and platform that provide guidance and support for quality monitoring by measurement data integration. The study consisted of two parts: a multiple case study and constructive research. The case study was conducted to explore the case project members’ experiences on quality monitoring. Observations, interviews and questionnaires were used as research instruments. A constructive research method was used to evaluate the data integration in the U-QASAR platform. Data integration adapters were explored and developers were interviewed and finally a new adapter was implemented. In both parts, thematic analysis was used to process the data. The case study results showed that quality monitoring can be deployed even in small-scale software projects, but there are certain challenges. For example, it is difficult to connect objective software measurements to more abstract quality objectives. Moreover, practitioners’ knowledge on the terminology of software measurement and software quality is not something that can be assumed. However, it is important that the semantic structure is taken care of in order to achieve common understanding. The constructive research revealed needs for further development regarding the data integration architecture of the U-QASAR platform.Ohjelmistokehityksessä laadunvarmistus on tärkeää, sillä sen avulla voidaan saavuttaa parempi markkina-asema. Ohjelmiston laatu on tärkeää myös kriittisissä systeemeissä, joiden vikaantuminen voi johtaa esimerkiksi mittaviin taloudellisiin menetyksiin. Ohjelmistokehitysprojekteissa laadukas tuote voidaan parhaiten saavuttaa jatkuvasti tarkkailemalla projektin tilaa, mikä edellyttää mittauksia. Kaikkea ei kuitenkaan ole kustannustehokasta mitata, joten on tärkeää määrittää kyseiselle tuotteelle ja projektille tärkeät laatuominaisuudet. Tässä työssä tutkittiin laadunvalvonnan käyttöönottoa ohjelmistokehitysprojekteissa. Siihen liittyviä aktiviteetteja olivat laatumallin määrittely sekä laadunvalvontaohjelman suunnittelu, käyttöönotto ja käyttö. Toiminnot toteutettiin käyttäen U-QASAR-metodologiaa ja -alustaa, jotka tarjoavat ohjausta ja tukea mittausdataintegraatiolla toteutettavaan laaduntarkkailuun. Tutkimus koostui kahdesta osiosta: monitapaustutkimuksesta ja konstruktiivisesta tutkimuksesta. Tapaustutkimus tehtiin, jotta laadunvalvonnasta saatavia kokemuksia voitaisiin tutkia. Tutkimusinstrumentteina käytettiin havainnointia, haastatteluja sekä kyselyitä. Konstruktiivisessa tutkimuksessa kohteena oli U-QASAR-alustan dataintegraation toteutus. Jo kehitettyjen integraatioadaptereiden rakennetta tutkittiin ja kehittäjiä haastateltiin. Lopuksi uusi adapteri kehitettiin. Molemmissa tutkimusosioissa temaattista analyysiä käytettiin datan käsittelyyn. Työn tulokset osoittivat, että laadunvalvontaa voidaan tehdä pienissäkin ohjelmistoprojekteissa, mutta tietyt haasteet on otettava huomioon. Esimerkiksi objektiivisten mittausten yhdistäminen abstraktimpiin laatuominaisuuksiin todettiin vaikeaksi. Lisäksi havaittiin, että laatuterminologian ei voida olettaa olevan hallussa kaikilla projektin sidosryhmillä. On kuitenkin tärkeää, että semanttinen konsensus säilytetään yhteisen ymmärryksen takaamiseksi. Konstruktiivisen tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että U-QASAR-alustan dataintegraatioarkkitehtuuri vaatii jatkokehitystä

An Evaluation of Software Measurement Processes in Pakistani Software Industry

Implementing a successful measurement process is a challenging task. Most measurement studies report measurement models, experiences, and lessons learned based on pilot projects or case studies in a limited scope to overcome specific challenges. This paper identifies 14 basic measurement practices and proposes a model of 18 success factors for implementing measurement processes with respect to the identified measurement theories in our systematic literature review (SLR), i.e., A systematic literature review on software measurement programs, by Tahir et al. , 2016. In addition, a survey is conducted to evaluate the state of measurement practices and to validate the proposed model based on the feedback from 200 software professionals working in Pakistani software industry. The state of measurement practices in the industry is mostly not according to the identified measurement theories in the SLR. For instance, more than 50 measurement models reported in the literature but only 10% software organizations follow any measurement model. 75% of organizations do not follow any measurement standard. 80% software organizations do not use any measurement tool. The proposed model is validated by applying structural equation modeling on the survey data. Furthermore, among 18 success factors, it is statistically significant that Pakistani software professionals strongly believe in necessity of three factors for successful implementation of a measurement process, i.e., synchronization between measurement process and software process improvement, use of measurement standards, and use of measurement models. In addition, they also believe that a successful measurement process will improve prediction, monitoring and management of software projects, and support in achievement of individual and organization-wide objectives. Software organizations might consider this paper in planning and improving their measurement processes

Elaboración de métricas basada en un framework de atributos para líneas de productos

Una línea de productos es un conjunto de productos relacionados que comparten unas características comunes, así como una variabilidad. Lo anterior facilita la producción masiva de dichos productos además de su adaptación a requisitos particulares. La ingeniería de líneas de productos es un paradigma de producción que permite la personalización masiva de productos. Esto ayuda a una mayor reutilización de componentes, a disminuir el tiempo de desarrollo y a mejorar la calidad final de los productos. Como en cualquier rama de la ingeniería, en la ingeniería de líneas de productos la medición juega un papel clave. Esto permite una mejor gestión de los procesos y los recursos requeridos por estos, así como monitorear la calidad de los productos. Este proceso se implementa mediante el uso de métricas, que permiten tener una medida cuantitativa del grado en el que un sistema, componente o proceso poseen un atributo dado (como costo, mantenibilidad o complejidad). Sin embargo; ni la comunidad académica ni la industria, cuentan con un framework para la aplicación de métricas en líneas de productos. Además, en la ingeniería en general y particularmente en la ingeniería de software, no existe un consenso en la terminología ni en una metodología de medición. Todo esto lleva a que se presenten dificultades, tanto para la definición como para la validación de métricas, en la ingeniería de software y en la ingeniería de líneas de productos. Durante el desarrollo del presente trabajo se propone un framework de medición, enfocado en los atributos, para la ingeniería de líneas de productos. También se define un conjunto de métricas con base en dicho framework. El trabajo propuesto comprende un mapeo sistemático de la literatura sobre la medición en la ingeniería de líneas de productos, un framework de medición centrado en un conjunto de atributos extraídos de la ingeniería de líneas de productos, un conjunto de métricas para líneas de productos y la correspondiente validación de dichas métricas con un análisis teórico.Abstract: A product line is a set of related products that share some common features and variable ones. It allows the massive production of those products besides their adaptation to particular requirements. Product line engineering is a production paradigm that implies mass customization of products. It helps to a greater reuse of components, to decrease the time of development and to improve the final quality of products. Like in any other engineering branch, in product line engineering measurement has a key role. It allows a better management of the processes and the resources required by them, as well as to monitor the quality of the products. This process is implemented through the use of metrics, which allow to have a quantitative measure of the degree in which a system, component or process possesses a given attribute (like cost, maintainability or complexity). However, neither the academy nor the industry have a framework for using metrics in product lines. Although, in engineering but mainly in software engineering, there is not a consensus in a measurement terminology or in a measurement methodology. All this has led to some difficulties in the definition and the validation of metrics in software engineering and in product line engineering. In this work, we propose a measurement framework for product line engineering focused on attributes. We also define a set of metrics based on this framework. The proposed work includes a systematic mapping about measurement in product line engineering, a measurement framework focused on the attributes of the product lines, a set of metrics for product lines and the validation of those metrics with a theoretical analysis.Maestrí

Information quality assessment in e-learning systems.

E-learning systems provide a promising solution as an information exchanging channel. Improved technology could mean faster and easier access to information but does not necessarily ensure the quality of this information. Therefore it is essential to develop valid and reliable methods of quality measurement and carry out careful information quality evaluations. Information quality frameworks are developed to measure the quality of information systems, generally from the designers¿ viewpoint. The recent proliferation of e-services, and e-learning particularly, raises the need for a new quality framework in the context of e-learning systems. The main contribution of this thesis is to propose a new information quality framework, with 14 information quality attributes grouped in three quality dimensions: intrinsic, contextual representation and accessibility. We report results based on original questionnaire data and factor analysis. Moreover, we validate the proposed framework using an empirical approach. We report our validation results on the basis of data collected from an original questionnaire and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in particular. However, it is difficult to measure information quality in an e-learning context because the concept of information quality is complex and it is expected that the measurements will be multidimensional in nature. Reliable measures need to be obtained in a systematic way, whilst considering the purpose of the measurement. Therefore, we start by adopting a Goal Question Metrics (GQM) approach to develop a set of quality metrics for the identified quality attributes within the proposed framework. We then define an assessment model and measurement scheme, based on a multi element analysis technique. The obtained results can be considered to be promising and positive, and revealed that the framework and assessment scheme could give good predictions for information quality within e-learning context. This research generates novel contributions as it proposes a solution to the problems raised from the absence of consensus regarding evaluation standards and methods for measuring information quality within an e-learning context. Also, it anticipates the feasibility of taking advantage of web mining techniques to automate the retrieval process of the information required for quality measurement. This assessment model is useful to e-learning systems designers, providers and users as it gives a comprehensive indication of the quality of information in such systems, and also facilitates the evaluation, allows comparisons and analysis of information quality

Applying gqm in an industrial software factory

Digital Equipment Co. Goal/Question/Metric (GQM) is a paradigm for the systematic definition, establishment, and exploitation of measurement programs supporting the quantitative evaluation of software processes and products. Although GQM is a quite well-known method, detailed guidelines for establishing a GQM program in an industrial environment are still limited. Also, there are few reported experiences on the application of GQM to industrial cases. Finally, the technological support for GQM is still inadequate. This article describes the experience we have gained in applying GQM at Digital Laboratories in Italy. The procedures, experiences, and technology that have been employed in this study are largely reusable by other industrial organizations willing to introduce a GQM-based measurement program in their development environments. Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.2.2 [Software Engineering]: Tools and Techniques— computer-aided software engineering (CASE); D.2.8 [Software Engineering]: Metrics