Use, potential, and showstoppers of models in automotive requirements engineering

Several studies report that the use of model-centric methods in the automotive domain is widespread and offers several benefits. However, existing work indicates that few modelling frameworks explicitly include requirements engineering (RE), and that natural language descriptions are still the status quo in RE. Therefore, we aim to increase the understanding of current and potential future use of models in RE, with respect to the automotive domain. In this paper, we report our findings from a multiple-case study with two automotive companies, collecting interview data from 14 practitioners. Our results show that models are used for a variety of different purposes during RE in the automotive domain, e.g. to improve communication and to handle complexity. However, these models are often used in an unsystematic fashion and restricted to few experts. A more widespread use of models is prevented by various challenges, most of which align with existing work on model use in a general sense. Furthermore, our results indicate that there are many potential benefits associated with future use of models during RE. Interestingly, existing research does not align well with several of the proposed use cases, e.g. restricting the use of models to informal notations for communication purposes. Based on our findings, we recommend a stronger focus on informal modelling and on using models for multi-disciplinary environments. Additionally, we see the need for future work in the area of model use, i.e. information extraction from models by non-expert modellers

Control-Theoretical Perspective in Feedback-Based Systems Testing

Self-Adaptive Systems (SAS) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) have received significant attention in recent computer engineering research. This is due to their ability to improve the level of autonomy of engineering artefacts. In both cases, this autonomy increase is achieved through feedback. Feedback is the iteration of sens- ing and actuation to respectively acquire knowledge about the current state of said artefacts and steer them toward a desired state or behaviour. In this thesis we dis- cuss the challenges that the introduction of feedback poses on the verification and validation process for such systems, more specifically, on their testing. We highlight three types of new challenges with respect to traditional software testing: alteration of testing input and output definition, and intertwining of components with different nature. Said challenges affect the ways we can define different elements of the test- ing process: coverage criteria, testing set-ups, test-case generation strategies, and oracles in the testing process. This thesis consists of a collection of three papers and contributes to the definition of each of the mentioned testing elements. In terms of coverage criteria for SAS, Paper I proposes the casting of the testing problem, to a semi-infinite optimisation problem. This allows to leverage the Scenario Theory from the field of robust control, and provide a worst-case probabilistic bound on a given performance metric of the system under test. For what concerns the definition of testing set-ups for control-based CPS, Paper II investigates the implications of the use of different abstractions (i.e., the use of implemented or emulated compo- nents) on the significance of the testing. The paper provides evidence that confutes the common assumption present in previous literature on the existence of a hierar- chy among commonly used testing set-ups. Finally, regarding the test-case gener- ation and oracle definition, Paper III defines the problem of stress testing control- based CPS software. We contribute to the generation and identification of stress test cases for such software by proposing a novel test case parametrisation. Leveraging the proposed parametrisation we define metamorphic relations on the expected be- haviour of the system under test. We use said relations for the development of stress testing approach and sanity checks on the testing results

From examples to knowledge in model-driven engineering : a holistic and pragmatic approach

Le Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) est une approche de développement logiciel qui propose d’élever le niveau d’abstraction des langages afin de déplacer l’effort de conception et de compréhension depuis le point de vue des programmeurs vers celui des décideurs du logiciel. Cependant, la manipulation de ces représentations abstraites, ou modèles, est devenue tellement complexe que les moyens traditionnels ne suffisent plus à automatiser les différentes tâches. De son côté, le Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) propose de reformuler l’automatisation des tâches du MDE comme des problèmes d’optimisation. Une fois reformulé, la résolution du problème sera effectuée par des algorithmes métaheuristiques. Face à la pléthore d’études sur le sujet, le pouvoir d’automatisation du SBSE n’est plus à démontrer. C’est en s’appuyant sur ce constat que la communauté du Example-Based MDE (EBMDE) a commencé à utiliser des exemples d’application pour alimenter la reformulation SBSE du problème d’apprentissage de tâche MDE. Dans ce contexte, la concordance de la sortie des solutions avec les exemples devient un baromètre efficace pour évaluer l’aptitude d’une solution à résoudre une tâche. Cette mesure a prouvé être un objectif sémantique de choix pour guider la recherche métaheuristique de solutions. Cependant, s’il est communément admis que la représentativité des exemples a un impact sur la généralisabilité des solutions, l'étude de cet impact souffre d’un manque de considération flagrant. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une formulation globale du processus d'apprentissage dans un contexte MDE incluant une méthodologie complète pour caractériser et évaluer la relation qui existe entre la généralisabilité des solutions et deux propriétés importantes des exemples, leur taille et leur couverture. Nous effectuons l’analyse empirique de ces deux propriétés et nous proposons un plan détaillé pour une analyse plus approfondie du concept de représentativité, ou d’autres représentativités.Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is a software development approach that proposes to raise the level of abstraction of languages in order to shift the design and understanding effort from a programmer point of view to the one of decision makers. However, the manipulation of these abstract representations, or models, has become so complex that traditional techniques are not enough to automate its inherent tasks. For its part, the Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) proposes to reformulate the automation of MDE tasks as optimization problems. Once reformulated, the problem will be solved by metaheuristic algorithms. With a plethora of studies on the subject, the power of automation of SBSE has been well established. Based on this observation, the Example-Based MDE community (EB-MDE) started using application examples to feed the reformulation into SBSE of the MDE task learning problem. In this context, the concordance of the output of the solutions with the examples becomes an effective barometer for evaluating the ability of a solution to solve a task. This measure has proved to be a semantic goal of choice to guide the metaheuristic search for solutions. However, while it is commonly accepted that the representativeness of the examples has an impact on the generalizability of the solutions, the study of this impact suffers from a flagrant lack of consideration. In this thesis, we propose a thorough formulation of the learning process in an MDE context including a complete methodology to characterize and evaluate the relation that exists between two important properties of the examples, their size and coverage, and the generalizability of the solutions. We perform an empirical analysis, and propose a detailed plan for further investigation of the concept of representativeness, or of other representativities

Understanding, Analysis, and Handling of Software Architecture Erosion

Architecture erosion occurs when a software system's implemented architecture diverges from the intended architecture over time. Studies show erosion impacts development, maintenance, and evolution since it accumulates imperceptibly. Identifying early symptoms like architectural smells enables managing erosion through refactoring. However, research lacks comprehensive understanding of erosion, unclear which symptoms are most common, and lacks detection methods. This thesis establishes an erosion landscape, investigates symptoms, and proposes identification approaches. A mapping study covers erosion definitions, symptoms, causes, and consequences. Key findings: 1) "Architecture erosion" is the most used term, with four perspectives on definitions and respective symptom types. 2) Technical and non-technical reasons contribute to erosion, negatively impacting quality attributes. Practitioners can advocate addressing erosion to prevent failures. 3) Detection and correction approaches are categorized, with consistency and evolution-based approaches commonly mentioned.An empirical study explores practitioner perspectives through communities, surveys, and interviews. Findings reveal associated practices like code review and tools identify symptoms, while collected measures address erosion during implementation. Studying code review comments analyzes erosion in practice. One study reveals architectural violations, duplicate functionality, and cyclic dependencies are most frequent. Symptoms decreased over time, indicating increased stability. Most were addressed after review. A second study explores violation symptoms in four projects, identifying 10 categories. Refactoring and removing code address most violations, while some are disregarded.Machine learning classifiers using pre-trained word embeddings identify violation symptoms from code reviews. Key findings: 1) SVM with word2vec achieved highest performance. 2) fastText embeddings worked well. 3) 200-dimensional embeddings outperformed 100/300-dimensional. 4) Ensemble classifier improved performance. 5) Practitioners found results valuable, confirming potential.An automated recommendation system identifies qualified reviewers for violations using similarity detection on file paths and comments. Experiments show common methods perform well, outperforming a baseline approach. Sampling techniques impact recommendation performance

Exploring and categorizing maintainability assurance research for service and microservice-based systems

Im Laufe des Softwarelebenszyklus eines Programms innerhalb einer sich ständig wechselnden Softwareumgebung ist es wahrscheinlich, dass dieses Programm regelmäßig gewartet werden muss. Wartungen kosten Geld und somit ist es wichtig, dass ebensolche Wartungen effizient und effektiv durchgeführt werden können. Im Laufe der Geschichte der Softwareentwicklung traten unter anderem zwei Architekturmuster hervor: Serviceorientierte Architektur und Microservices. Da diese Architekturmuster ein hohes Maß an Wartbarkeit versprechen, wurden viele Altsysteme hin zu diesen modernen Architekturen migriert. Es kann fatale Folgen für Unternehmen haben, wenn Änderungen an einem System nicht schnell, risikofrei und fehlerfrei umgesetzt werden können. Es wurden bereits viele Forschungsarbeiten bezogen auf die Wartbarkeit von serviceorientierter Architektur publiziert. Systeme basierend auf Microservices fanden jedoch, bezogen auf Wartbarkeitssicherung, nicht viel Beachtung. Sämtliche Forschungsarbeiten befinden sich verteilt auf viele Literaturdatenbanken, wodurch ein umfassender Überblick erschwert wird. Um einen solchen Überblick bereitzustellen, führten wir im Rahmen dieser Bachelorarbeit eine systematische Literaturstudie durch, die sich mit der Wartbarkeitssicherung von serviceorienter Architektur und Systemen basierend auf Microservices beschäftigt. Zur Durchführung dieser systematischen Literaturstudie entwickelten wir eine Reihe von relevanten Forschungsfragen sowie ein striktes Forschungsprotokoll. Aufbauend auf diesem Protokoll sammelten wir insgesamt 223 Forschungsarbeiten von verschiedenen Herausgebern. Diese Arbeiten wurden bezüglich ihres Inhalts zuerst in drei Gruppen von Kategorien unterteilt (architektonisch, thematisch und methodisch). Danach wurden die jeweils relevantesten Forschungsrichtungen aus jeder thematischen Kategorie herausgearbeitet und vorgestellt. Zum Abschluss wurden deutliche Unterschiede der in den Forschungsarbeiten präsentierten Inhalte in Bezug auf serviceorientierte Architektur und Microservice-basierte Systeme herausgearbeitet und dargestellt. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigten eine deutliche Unterrepräsentation von Forschungsarbeiten zur Wartbarkeitssicherung für Microservice-basierte Systeme. Während der Untersuchung der Kategorien konnten wir diverse Forschungsrichtungen innerhalb dieser feststellen. Ein Beispiel hierfür ist die Forschungsrichtung "change impact in business processes" in der Kategorie "Change Impact and Scenarios". Abschließend konnten wir einige Unterschiede bezogen auf die gesammelten Forschungsarbeiten zwischen Systemen basierend auf einer serviceorientierten Architektur und Systemen basierend auf Microservices feststellen. Ein solcher Unterschied kann zum Beispiel in der Kategorie "Antipatterns and Bad Smells" gefunden werden. Im Vergleich zu Forschungsarbeiten, welche sich auf serviceorientierte Architektur beziehen, beinhalten Forschungsarbeiten im Zusammenhang mit Systemen auf Basis von Microservices nur grundlegende Informationen zu Antipatterns, jedoch keine Herangehensweisen, um diese zu erkennen. Aufgrund unserer Ergebnisse schlagen wir einen stärkeren Fokus auf Forschung zur Wartbarkeitssicherung in Microservice-basierten Systemen vor. Mögliche zukünftige Forschungsarbeiten könnten überprüfen, ob Herangehensweisen zur Wartbarkeitssicherung von serviceorientierter Architektur auch bei Microservices anwendbar sind. Darüber hinaus schlagen wir die Durchführung von systematischen Literaturstudien vor, welche Themen wie "runtime adaptation", "testing" und "legacy migration" untersuchen, da diese Themen in unserer Literaturstudie ausgeschlossen wurden.It is very likely that software running in an everchanging environment needs to evolve at multiple points during its lifecycle. Because maintenance costs money, it is important for such tasks to be as effective and efficient as possible. During the history of software development service- and microservice-based architectures have emerged among other architectures. Since these architectures promise to provide a high maintainability, many legacy systems are or were migrated towards a service- or microservice-based architecture. In order to keep such systems running, maintenance is inevitable. While a lot of research has been published regarding maintainability assurance for service-based systems, microservice-based systems have not gotten a lot of attention. All published research is spread across several scientific databases which makes it difficult to get an extensive overview of existing work. In order to provide such overview of maintainability assurance regarding service- and microservice-based systems, we conducted a systematic literature review. To support our literature review, we developed a set of meaningful research questions and a rigid research protocol. Based on our protocol we collected a set of 223 different papers. These papers were first categorized into a threefold set of categories (architectural, thematical and methodical). After that, the most relevant research directions from each thematical category were extracted and presented. Lastly, we extracted and presented notable differences between approaches relating to service-oriented architecture or microservice-based systems. Our findings show a clear underrepresentation of maintainability assurance approaches suitable for microservice-based systems. We further discovered that regarding our formed categories, we could find several research directions such as change impact in business processes in "Change Impact and Scenarios". In the end, we could identify some differences between service- and microservice-based systems concerning approaches we retrieved in this thesis. A difference, for example was that in comparison with papers related to service-oriented architecture in "Antipatterns and Bad Smells", microservices related papers only contained basic information on antipatterns, but no approaches to detect them. Due to our findings we suggest a higher participation in research regarding maintainability assurance for microservice-based systems. Possible future work in this area could include further research on the applicability of service-oriented maintainability assurance approaches or techniques in microservice-based systems. Furthermore, future researchers could conduct follow-up literature reviews and investigate topics such as runtime adaptation, testing and legacy migration, since we excluded such topics from this thesis

Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering, FASE 2020, which took place in Dublin, Ireland, in April 2020, and was held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2020. The 23 full papers, 1 tool paper and 6 testing competition papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 81 submissions. The papers cover topics such as requirements engineering, software architectures, specification, software quality, validation, verification of functional and non-functional properties, model-driven development and model transformation, software processes, security and software evolution

Scientific History of Incipit in the period 2010-2016

Historial de la actividad científica y técnica del Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio (Incipit) del CSIC, basado en Santiago de Compostela, desde su fecha de creación (2010) hasta el año 2016. Se presentan la misión y las líneas de investigación del Incipit, centradas principalmente en el estudio de los procesos de patrimonialización y de valorización social del patrimonio cultural realizadas con una perspectiva transdisciplinar. Se relacionan las publicaciones, proyectos de investigación, actividades de ciencia pública, eventos de comunicación y productos de divulgación que su personal investigador ha producido a lo largo de estos años.General introduction to the Incipit. Presentation of the Research Line: Cultural Heritage Studies: Sub-Theme: Landscape Archaeology and Cultural Landscapes, Sub-theme: Heritagization Processes: Memory, Power and Ethnicity, Sub-theme: Socioeconomics of Cultural Heritage, Sub-theme: Archaeology of the Contemporary Past, Sub-theme: Material culture and formalization processes of cultural heritage. Scientific Contributions. Transfer of Knowledge. International Activities. Other Activities and Results. Scientific DisseminationN