Software Development: Cowboy or Samurai

Much has been written about the failure of software development projects. The importance of good software to business cannot be underestimated. A major issue is quality of the software being written and produced. Over the years, the emphasis for improvement in software development has been to change the process. Unified Modeling Language is but one of a long line of changes in software development process starting with structured programming introduced in the seventies to object oriented programming in nineties. However, several software development experts have begun to assert that the problem may not be with the process employed but rather the human asset, namely the software developer. This paper discusses two extremes of software developer behaviors. These two ends of the spectrum are the cowboy, free of restrictions, and the Samurai, following a strict code of behavior. The paper first presents the characteristics of the cowboy and the Samurai then the paper compares the development environment within which each behavior is suitable. The paper concludes with a summary and industry observations

Modeling the object-oriented software process: OPEN and the unified process

A short introduction to software process modeling is presented, particularly object-oriented modeling. Two major industrial process models are discussed: the OPEN model and the Unified Process model. In more detail, the quality assurance in the Unified Process tool (formally called Objectory) is reviewed

Systematic Testing of Embedded Automotive Software - The Classification-Tree Method for Embedded Systems (CTM/ES)

The software embedded in automotive control systems increasingly determines the functionality and properties of present-day motor vehicles. The development and test process of the systems and the software embedded becomes the limiting factor. While these challenges, on the development side, are met by employing model-based specification, design, and implementation techniques [KCF+04], satisfactory solutions on the testing side are slow in arriving. With regard to the systematic selection (test design) and the description of test scenarios especially, there is a lot of room for improvement. Thus, a main goal is to effectively minimize these deficits by creating an efficient procedure for the selection and description of test scenarios for embedded automotive software and its integration in the model-based development process. The realization of this idea involves the combination of a classical software testing procedure with a technology, prevalent in the automotive industry, which is used for the description of time-dependent stimuli signals. The result of this combination is the classification-tree method for embedded systems, CTM/ES [Con04]. The classification-tree method for embedded systems complements model-based development by employing a novel approach to the systematic selection and description of the test scenarios for the software embedded in the control systems. CTM/ES allows for the graphic representation of time-variable test scenarios on different levels of abstraction: A problem-oriented, compact representation, adequate for a human tester and containing a high potential for reusability, is gradually being transformed into a solution-oriented technical representation which is suited for the test objects\u27 stimulation. The CTM/ES notation facilitates a consistent representation of test scenarios which may result from different test design techniques. The test design technique which this method is primarily based on, is a data-oriented partitioning of the input domain in equivalence classes. Secondary test design techniques are, for instance, the testing of specific values (or value courses) or requirement-based testing. A domain-specific application pragmatics in the form of agendas supports the methodical execution of individual test activities and the interaction of different test design techniques. The methodology description leads up to an effective test strategy for model-based testing, combining the classification-tree method for embedded systems with structural testing on the model level, and accommodating the different forms of representation of the test object during model-based development. Systems which have been developed in a model-based way can be tested systematically and efficiently by means of the CTM/ES and the tools based thereon, such as the classification-tree editor for embedded systems CTE/ES [CTE/ES], as well as the model-based test environment MTest [LBE+04, MTest]

Deferred Action: Theoretical model of process architecture design for emergent business processes

E-Business modelling and ebusiness systems development assumes fixed company resources, structures, and business processes. Empirical and theoretical evidence suggests that company resources and structures are emergent rather than fixed. Planning business activity in emergent contexts requires flexible ebusiness models based on better management theories and models . This paper builds and proposes a theoretical model of ebusiness systems capable of catering for emergent factors that affect business processes. Drawing on development of theories of the ‘action and design’class the Theory of Deferred Action is invoked as the base theory for the theoretical model. A theoretical model of flexible process architecture is presented by identifying its core components and their relationships, and then illustrated with exemplar flexible process architectures capable of responding to emergent factors. Managerial implications of the model are considered and the model’s generic applicability is discussed