Influence Factors for the Choice of a Software Development Methodology

The success rate of software development projects can be increased by using a methodology that is adequate for the specific characteristics of those projects. Over time a wide range of software development methodologies has been elaborated, therefore choosing one of them is not an easy task. Our research reviews the main categories of development methodologies and then focuses, for a detailed study, on three of them: Rational Unified Process (RUP), Rapid Application Development (RAD) and Extreme Programming (XP). For each methodology it is presented the structure of software life cycle, there are identified the situations in which the methodology can be used successfully and the situations in which it tends to fail. Based on the literature review of software development methodologies and on a series of surveys, published by different researchers, exploring the state of practices in this field, we have identified a number of factors that influence the decision of choosing the most adequate development methodology for a specific project. The methodologies that are subject of this study are evaluated in relation to these factors to find out which development methodology is the most adequate depending on the level of the factors for a specific project. The results of our research are useful for the developers by helping them to identify what software development methodology can be used with success for a specific project.Software development methodology, Rational Unified Process, Rapid Application Development, Extreme Programming, choosing the adequate methodology

Evidence-Based Structuring and Evaluation of Empirical Research in Requirements Engineering - Fundamentals, Framework, Research Map

The objective of the contribution is to develop and motivate an approach of structuring, evaluating, and representing empirical research results regarding requirements engineering. Therefore, the authors develop a framework in order to organize the area of interest. The use of this framework and an evidence-based classification system allows us to develop a research map which helps to structure identified empirical research while enabling the derivation of further research needs. Additionally, it supports the selection of methods, techniques, etc. in requirements engineering practice

UXP Portal 2.0 Functional Requirements Specification

Cybernetica on välja töötanud toote Unified eXchange Platform (UXP), pakkumaks turvalist ja töökindlat organisatsioonidevahelist andmevahetuskihti. UXP Portal on universaalne klientrakendus üle UXP platvormi pakutavate teenuste tarbimiseks. UXP Portal’i esimese versiooni põhjal tehtud järeldused viisid vajaduseni arendada välja versioon 2.0.Käesolev bakalaureusetöö kirjeldab UXP Portal 2.0 arendusprotsessi käigusvalminud äriprotsesside modelleerimise ja funktsionaalsete nõuete spetsifitseerimise tööprotsessi ja tulemusi. Projekti tarkvaraarendusprotsessi aluseks on Rational Unified Process (RUP). Projekti raames valminud skeemid järgivad unifitseeritud modelleerimiskeele (UML) põhimõtteid. Nii talitluse kui ka süsteemi käitumise kirjeldamiseks on kasutatud kasutusmallimudeleid. Valminud kasutusmallimudelid on sisendiks arendusprotsessi järgnevatele tööülesannetele.Nõuete spetsifitseerimise muutis keeruliseks tõsiasi, et UXP Portalit arendatakse ettevõtte oma tootena ehk puudub konkreetne klient, kellega koostöös nõudeid välja selgitada. Sellest hoolimata võib välise interaktsioonidisaineriga toimunud koostöö põhjal hinnata, et funktsionaalsete nõuete spetsifikatsioon oli piisava detailsusastmega koostöö alustamiseks.Cybernetica has developed the Unified eXchange Platform (UXP) — an interoperability platform designed to serve as a secure and reliable data exchange infrastructure.UXP Portal is a component that serves as a universal client applicationfor accessing services over UXP infrastructure. Experience with the initial version of UXP Portal led to the development of version 2.0.This Thesis describes the process and the outputs of business process modelingand functional requirements specification for the development of UXP Portal 2.0.The development process is based on the Rational Unified Process (RUP). Themodels were created using Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation. Use-Case Models were developed for both the business and system level domains. The Use- Case Models will serve as an input for the implementation tasks.The requirements specification process was complicated by the fact that UXPPortal is developed as a product that has no direct customer to elicit requirements from. However, the requirements specification described in this Thesis proved to be sufficient for designing a user interface prototype in cooperation with an external interaction designer

Tailoring CMMI-DEV and RUP frameworks for ML2/3-compliance analysis

Tese de doutoramento do Programa de Doutoramento em InformáticaThe Capability Maturity Model Integration is a reference model composed of a set of guidelines that has to be implemented to attain a specific level of maturity in a particular set of process areas. This model aims to establish a set of "best practices" that should be used to ensure the software development with a high degree of quality. However, CMMI is not widely adopted by small businesses. Its adoption by these companies is somewhat complex since, in its guidelines, it merely indicates what to do, but it does not indicate how to implement each guideline. The Rational Unified Process is a software development methodology, which has as its main objective to avail its users the possibility of the software developing high-quality, within time and budget. This thesis aims to contribute a set of solutions that can be followed by small organizations, in order to implement a more streamlined process model that guarantees an increase in the quality of their products. This thesis adopts and validates a tailoring of the Rational Unified Process allowing it to be more easily implemented by small businesses or small software teams. This thesis presents a study of the dependencies between all the Capability Maturity Model Integration process areas, in order to enable the understanding of what the implementation impact is of a given process area in the other process areas. Finally, we present a mapping between the Capability Maturity Model Integration and the Rational Unified Process, which aims to help small software development teams in the implementation of the Maturity Level 2 (presented in more detail) and Maturity Level 3 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration. This mapping specifies what team members have to perform in order to implement most of the guidelines that the Capability Maturity Model Integration requires for each of their maturity levels.O Capability Maturity Model Integration é um modelo de referência que contém um conjunto de orientações necessárias para atingir um determinado nível de maturidade em áreas de processo específicas. Este modelo tem como objetivo estabelecer um conjunto de "melhores práticas" que devem ser utilizadas para garantir o desenvolvimento de software com um elevado grau de qualidade. No entanto o CMMI não é muito adotado por pequenas empresas. A sua adoção por estas empresas torna-se ligeiramente complexa, uma vez que nas suas orientações apenas é indicado o que se deve fazer e não o como se pode fazer. O Rational Unified Process é uma metodologia de desenvolvimento de software que tem como principal objetivo garantir aos seus utilizadores o desenvolvimento de software de alta qualidade dentro do tempo e custo previsto. Esta tese pretende contribuir com um conjunto de soluções, que as pequenas empresas podem seguir, de modo a implementarem de uma forma mais simplificada um modelo de processos que lhes garanta um aumento da qualidade dos seus produtos. Esta tese adota e valida uma simplificação do Rational Unified Process permitindo que este seja mais facilmente implementado por pequenas empresas ou pequenas equipas de software. Esta tese apresenta um estudo das dependências existentes entre as várias áreas de processo do Capability Maturity Model Integration de modo a permitir a compreensão de qual o impacto que a implementação de uma determinada área de processo tem nas restantes áreas existentes. Por fim, é apresentado um mapeamento entre o Capability Maturity Model Integration e o Rational Unified Process, que pretende orientar as pequenas equipas de desenvolvimento a implementar nível 2 (apresentado de um modo mais detalhado) e 3 do Capability Maturity Model Integration. Este mapeamento permite indicar aos elementos da equipa o que tem de fazer para conseguir implementar a maior parte das orientações que o Capability Maturity Model Integration impõe para cada um dos seus níveis de maturidade.Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o apoio da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e da I2S - Informática Sistemas e Serviços SA., através de uma Bolsa de Doutoramento em Empresa

Incorporating Model-Driven Techniques into Requirements Engineering for the Service-Oriented Development Process

Abstract. Modern information systems, which are the result of the interconnection of systems of many organizations, run in variable contexts, and require both a lightweight approach to interoperability and the capability to actively react to changing requirements and failures. Model-Driven Development (MDD) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) are software development approaches that deal with this complexity, reducing time and cost development and augmenting flexibility and interoperability. Although, requirements engineering is accepted as a critical activity in these approaches, there is a need to appropriately integrate and automate the requirements modeling and transformation tasks as part of MDD and SOA development approaches. Our proposal is a Rational Unified Process (RUP) extension, in which the requirements discipline is placed in a model-driven context in order to derive SOAs. This paper includes the definition of a model-driven requirements process including activities, roles, and work products

The Value Proposition of Service-Oriented Architecture

The author of this thesis evaluates Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) design and implementation strategies. The purpose is to provide the reader with the definition of Service-Oriented Architecture. This report discusses: (1) The definition of Service-Oriented Architecture, (2) The problems solved by Service-Oriented Architecture, (3) Application of design principles to achieve Service-Oriented Architecture. As a result of this investigation, Service-Oriented Architecture is a design style that is fundamentally about sharing and reuse of functionality across diverse applications, so that organizations can quickly adapt to changing business requirements while increasing IT asset reuse and minimizing integration and development costs

ASSESSMENT OF MODEL CONVERSION FROM GENESYS TO MAGIC SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS ARCHITECT FOR MODEL-BASED SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INTEROPERABILITY

This thesis investigates whether the information contained in a Vitech Genesys model can retain its informational accuracy after conversion into a Dassault Systemes’ Magic System of Systems Architect (MSOSA) model. The thesis uses a sample system model in Vitech that implements the system definition language (SDL) and converts it to MSOSA, which uses the systems modeling language (SysML). The study reviewed conversion methods available to the user and converted a Genesys model to an MSOSA model using the only available method, Excel. The study then assessed the converted model and outlined any post-migration remediation. The results of this thesis demonstrate that the currently available methods are feasible but inefficient, as only 34% of the entities and 9% of the relationships transferred successfully during the experiment. Genesys can output tabular data that represents system model entities and relationships; however, the MSOSA import function was unable to correctly import entities that had one-to-many relationships with other entities. Consequently, the user must perform manual manipulation during the conversion process. Furthermore, ontological differences between the tools prevented the complete import of behavioral data, since many SDL entities map to more than one SysML entity. Based on the results, this thesis recommends pursuing an extensible markup language–based software solution for Genesys and MSOSA and developing a formal Navy and Marine Corps ontology.Civilian, Department of the NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Optimization of Cyber Defense Exercises Using Balanced Software Development Methodology

Cyber defense exercises (CDXs) represent an effective way to train cybersecurity experts. However, their development is lengthy and expensive. The reason lies in current practice where the CDX life cycle is not sufficiently mapped and formalized, and then exercises are developed ad-hoc. However, the CDX development shares many aspects with software development, especially with ERP systems. This paper presents a generic CDX development method that has been derived from existing CDX life cycles using the SPEM standard meta-model. The analysis of the method revealed bottlenecks in the CDX development process. Observations made from the analysis and discussed in the paper indicate that the organization of CDXs can be significantly optimized by applying a balanced mixed approach with agile preparation and plan-driven disciplined evaluation