Comparing service orientation and object orientation : a case study on structural benefits and maintainability

Service Orientation (SO) is a dominating technique evolving around the use of Object Orientation (OO). The conceptual comparison of both the approaches have been broadly explained in the literature, but the generalizable comparison of the maintainability of two paradigms is still a topic under research. This thesis tries to provide a generalized comparison of the maintainability using two functionally equivalent Online BookStore systems developed with Service Orientation and Object Orientation. This thesis presents a brief explanation of the software metrics used for the comparison. The quantitative comparison revealed that the Service-Oriented version of the system has a lower coupling and higher cohesion between software modules compared to an Object-Oriented approach. Through survey results, it was found that Service Orientation has a better degree of modifiability, encapsulation and abstraction while Object-Orientation provides a reduced degree of testing and system complexity comparatively. Also in expert interviews, participants believe that systems based on service orientation possess a better degree of stability, analyzability and modifiability whereas Object-Oriented System tends to provide a lower degree of structural complexity. Furthermore, experimental results suggest that a Service-Based System has a better degree of extensibility and changeability compared to Object-Oriented System

Tradespace and Affordability – Phase 2

MOTIVATION AND CONTEXT: One of the key elements of the SERC’s research strategy is transforming the practice of systems engineering – “SE Transformation.” The Grand Challenge goal for SE Transformation is to transform the DoD community’s current systems engineering and management methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) and practices away from sequential, single stovepipe system, hardware-first, outside-in, document-driven, point-solution, acquisition-oriented approaches; and toward concurrent, portfolio and enterprise-oriented, hardware-software-human engineered, balanced outside-in and inside-out, model-driven, set-based, full life cycle approaches.This material is based upon work supported, in whole or in part, by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) under Contract H98230-08- D-0171 (Task Order 0031, RT 046).This material is based upon work supported, in whole or in part, by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) under Contract H98230-08- D-0171 (Task Order 0031, RT 046)

Assessing the effect of source code characteristics on changeability

Maintenance is the phase of the software lifecycle that comprises any modification after the delivery of an application. Modifications during this phase include correcting faults, improving internal attributes, as well as adapting the application to different environments. As application knowledge and architectural integrity degrade over time, so does the facility with which changes to the application are introduced. Thus, eliminating source code that presents characteristics that hamper maintenance becomes necessary if the application is to evolve. We group these characteristics under the term Source Code Issues. Even though there is support for detecting Source Code Issues, the extent of their harmfulness for maintenance remains unknown. One of the most studied Source Code Issue is cloning. Clones are duplicated code, usually created as programmers copy, paste, and customize existing source code. However, there is no agreement on the harmfulness of clones. This thesis proposes and follows a novel methodology to assess the effect of clones on the changeability of methods. Changeability is the ease with which a source code entity is modified. It is assessed through metrics calculated from the history of changes of the methods. The impact of clones on the changeability of methods is measured by comparing the metrics of methods that contain clones to those that do not. Source code characteristics are then tested to establish whether they are endemic of methods whose changeability decay increase when cloned. In addition to findings on the harmfulness of cloning, this thesis contributes a methodology that can be applied to assess the harmfulness of other Source Code Issues. The contributions of this thesis are twofold. First, the findings answer the question about the harmfulness of clones on changeability by showing that cloned methods are more likely to change, and that some cloned methods have significantly higher changeability decay when cloned. Furthermore, it offers a characterization of such harmful clones. Second, the methodology provides a guide to analyze the effect of Source Code Characteristics in changeability; and therefore, can be adapted for other Source Code Issues

Dynamic Coupling Measurement for Object-Oriented Software

A major goal of software engineering research is to develop techniques, methods and tools that may improve software quality. This thesis contributes to that goal. It is possible to assume two different views on quality as it relates to software products. In the external view, quality is determined based on how well a product performs in practise, i.e., maintainability and usability. In the internal view, quality is derived from attributes inherent in the software product, e.g., structural properties such as coupling, cohesion and size. Much research related to software quality models has focused on establishing relationships between structural properties and external quality attributes. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop quality prediction models, which may aid in making informed decisions concerning, for example, refactoring or program design. Regardless of the structural properties considered, most quality prediction models have so far been based on static analysis of source code or designs. Such models have proven to be fairly accurate on some occasions. However, in the context of object-oriented systems, static coupling measures may not always be accurate, thus resulting in unreliable prediction models. Due to polymorphism and dynamic binding, static coupling measures do not always reflect the actual coupling taking place between classes, as this can only be determined at run-time. In addition, static measurements of coupling may be inaccurate when obtained from systems containing ``dead'' code. In an attempt to overcome these problems, twelve dynamic coupling measures have been proposed. They differ from static coupling measures in that they are based on analysis of the actual messages exchanged between objects at run-time. The twelve measures are therefore referred to as ``dynamic coupling measures''. To collect the dynamic coupling measures, a tool called Jdissect was developed. Jdissect collects data from running Java programs to calculate dynamic coupling. There are three objectives for the investigation of the proposed coupling measures. The measures need to be theoretically validated, that is, one needs to assess their theoretical properties and validity as coupling measures. Furthermore, it is important to determine whether they provide data over and above what can be collected through static measures such as size and static coupling. Finally, to demonstrate practical usefulness of the dynamic coupling measures, they must be evaluated as predictors of external quality. In the case study presented in this thesis, the external quality attribute considered for the evaluation is change proneness, which is an indirect measure of software maintainability. The results indicate that some of the dynamic coupling measures are strong indicators of change proneness and that they complement existing static measures. The resulting prediction models may, for example, be useful to focus restructuring efforts on those parts of the software that are predicted to be the most likely to undergo future changes

Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: The Human-Data-Technology Nexus

This is an open access book. It gathers the first volume of the proceedings of the 31st edition of the International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, FAIM 2022, held on June 19 – 23, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Covering four thematic areas including Manufacturing Processes, Machine Tools, Manufacturing Systems, and Enabling Technologies, it reports on advanced manufacturing processes, and innovative materials for 3D printing, applications of machine learning, artificial intelligence and mixed reality in various production sectors, as well as important issues in human-robot collaboration, including methods for improving safety. Contributions also cover strategies to improve quality control, supply chain management and training in the manufacturing industry, and methods supporting circular supply chain and sustainable manufacturing. All in all, this book provides academicians, engineers and professionals with extensive information on both scientific and industrial advances in the converging fields of manufacturing, production, and automation

Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Production Systems and Logistics (CPSL 2021)

Proceedings of the CPSL 202

Product Returns in a Digital Era: The Role of Multidimensional Cognitive Dissonance, Regret, and Buying Context in the Post-purchase Appraisal Process

The retailing industry is battling a behemoth – the escalating problem of product returns. The problem is of a graver import for e-tailers. However, the underlying cognitive and affective appraisal process that leads to product returns in case of online purchase still remains unclear. The liberal product returns environment in the context of online purchase has led consumers to proactively consider the option of decision reversal. Nevertheless, the impact of the initial buying context on the post-purchase appraisal process has been neglected in previous studies. To bridge the gaps found after evaluating the current gamut of research work conducted on this topic, a mixed-method approach was employed in the present study. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 42), the first qualitative study identified three online purchase situations (unplanned, purchase-for-trial and opportunism buying) that frequently provoke product returns. Additionally, the qualitative uncovered the salient post-purchase appraisal factors. To empirically test the underlying appraisal process and the differences caused by the buying situations, a quantitative study was conducted, using scenario-based experiment (N = 620). Findings suggest that contrary to recent studies (e.g., Lee, 2015; Powers & Jack, 2013), cognitive dissonance is not the immediate cause of product returns. It is the affective factor, regret, which leads to decision reversal. Additionally, in opposition to the claim of previous literature that high coping potential reduces stress, this study suggests that the ability to reverse the decision actually increases regret and, in turn, leads to product returns. Results also indicate that buying context (e.g., different buying situations) causes difference in serial mediation pathways from both primary and secondary appraisal to product returns likelihood. E-tailers should utilise consumers’ behavioural profile in order to classify different consumer groups and tailor the means to manage product returns accordingly