An architectural model for software testing lesson learned systems

Software testing is a key aspect of software reliability and quality assurance in a context where software development constantly has to overcome mammoth challenges in a continuously changing environment. One of the characteristics of software testing is that it has a large intellectual capital component and can thus benefit from the use of the experience gained from past projects. Software testing can, then, potentially benefit from solutions provided by the knowledge management discipline. There are in fact a number of proposals concerning effective knowledge management related to several software engineering processes. Objective: We defend the use of a lesson learned system for software testing. The reason is that such a system is an effective knowledge management resource enabling testers and managers to take advantage of the experience locked away in the brains of the testers. To do this, the experience has to be gathered, disseminated and reused. Method: After analyzing the proposals for managing software testing experience, significant weaknesses have been detected in the current systems of this type. The architectural model proposed here for lesson learned systems is designed to try to avoid these weaknesses. This model (i) defines the structure of the software testing lessons learned; (ii) sets up procedures for lesson learned management; and (iii) supports the design of software tools to manage the lessons learned. Results: A different approach, based on the management of the lessons learned that software testing engineers gather from everyday experience, with two basic goals: usefulness and applicability. Conclusion: The architectural model proposed here lays the groundwork to overcome the obstacles to sharing and reusing experience gained in the software testing and test management. As such, it provides guidance for developing software testing lesson learned systems

Processo de construção de uma base de experiências para laboratórios de P&D

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade UnB Gama, 2016.Os funcionários são os principais ativos de organizações de software e a indústria de software é caracterizada por frequentes mudanças tecnológicas, o que acarreta um fluxo contínuo de novos conhecimentos. Devido ao volume de conhecimento, as organizações de software têm problemas em identificar o conteúdo, localização e uso do conhecimento, ou seja, dificuldade em realizar a gestão deste conhecimento. A Fábrica de Experiências pode ser considerada para representar a iniciativa de gestão do conhecimento. Um passo básico dentro da Fábrica de Experiências é a base de experiências. O propósito deste trabalho é a abstração do processo de construção de uma base de experiências para laboratórios de P&D, inseridos no contexto de ensino de Engenharia de Software de uma universidade pública brasileira, e que não possuem um processo de gestão do conhecimento definido. Para isto, foi realizado um estudo de caso em dois laboratórios de P&D: ITRAC (Information Technology - Research and Application Center) e LFS (Laboratório Fábrica de Software), idealizados a partir da necessidade de criação de um ambiente que propusesse, aos alunos, experiências relacionadas ao desenvolvimento de software, processos e metodologias dessa área. A implementação da base experiências para laboratórios de P&D pôde ser realizada com base em um processo de estruturação da base de experiências, dentro de um modelo de Fábrica de Experiências que foi adaptado ao contexto dos laboratórios de P&D. O processo adotado atende ao objetivo do trabalho, visto que, por meio dele, foi possível construir uma base de experiências para manter os conhecimentos gerados pelos objetos de estudo. Com isto, a ferramenta OwnCloud tornou-se a base de experiências dos laboratórios de P&D ITRAC e LFS.Employees are the main assets of software organizations and the software industry is characterized by frequent technological changes, which entail a continuous flow of new knowledge. Due to the volume of knowledge, software organizations have problems in identifying the content, location and use of knowledge, that is, difficulty in managing this knowledge. The Experiment Factory can be considered to represent the knowledge management initiative. A basic step inside the Experiment Factory is the experience base. The purpose of this work is the abstraction of the process of building a experience base for R & D laboratories, inserted in the context of Software Engineering teaching of a Brazilian public university, and that do not have a defined knowledge management process. To do this, was executed a case study in two R & D laboratories: ITRAC (Information Technology and Research Center) and LFS (Software Factory Laboratory), idealized from the need to create an environment that proposes to students, Experiences related to the development of software, processes and methodologies in this area. The implementation of the experience bases for R & D laboratories could be realized based on a process of structuring the base of experiments, within an Experiment Factory model that has been adapted to the context of R & D laboratories. The process adopted fulfills the objective of the work, since through it, was possible to build a base of experiences to maintain the knowledge generated by the objects of study. With this, the OwnCloud tool has become the experience base of the ITRAC and LFS R & D laboratories

COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT UPON SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Software development is beset with problems relating to development productivity, resulting in projects delivered late and over budget. While the term software engineering was first introduced in the late sixties, its current state reflects no other engineering discipline. Component-orientation has been proposed as a technique to address the problems of development productivity and much industrial literature extols the benefits of a component-oriented approach to software development. This research programme assesses the use of component technologies within industrial software development. From this assessment, consideration is given to how organisations can best adopt such techniques. Initial work focuses upon the nature of component-orientation, drawing from the considerable body of industrial literature in the area. Conventional wisdom regarding componentorientation is identified from the review. Academic literature relevant to the research programme focuses upon knowledge regarding the assessment of software technologies and models for the adoption of emergent technologies. The method pays particular attention to literature concerning practitioner focussed research, in particular case studies. The application of the case study method is demonstrated. The study of two industrial software development projects enables an examination of specific propositions related to the effect of using component technologies. Each case study is presented, and the impact of component-orientation is each case is demonstrated. Theories regarding the impact of component technologies upon software development are drawn from case study results. These theories are validated through a survey of practitioners. This enabled further examination of experience in component-based development and also understanding how developers learn about the techniques. A strategy for the transfer of research findings into organisational knowledge focuses upon the packaging of previous experience in the use of component-orientation in such a way that it was usable by other developers. This strategy returns to adoption theories in light of the research findings and identifies a pattern-based approach as the most suitable for the research aims. A pattern language, placed in the context of the research programme, is developed from this strategy. Research demonstrates that component-orientation undoubtedly does affect the development process, and it is necessary to challenge conventional wisdom regarding their use. While component-orientation provides the mechanisms for increased productivity in software development, these benefits cannot be exploited without a sound knowledge base around the domain

Enfoque integrado de medición, evaluación y mejora de calidad con soporte a metas de negocio y de necesidad de información: aplicación de estrategias a partir de patrones de estrategia

En toda organización de software madura, se debe asegurar la mejora continua de la calidad de los productos, servicios, procesos y recursos. Para ello, no solo es necesario contar con actividades de medición y evaluación que permitan conocer la situación real o estimada de una entidad, analizando y detectando debilidades y vulnerabilidades; sino que también es preciso contar con actividades que permitan introducir cambios orientados a la mejora. Un modo ingenieril de organizar las actividades y recursos involucrados es mediante la gestión de proyectos de medición, evaluación y/o cambio. Estos proyectos operacionalizan metas de necesidad de información de medición y evaluación. Por ejemplo, una meta de este tipo puede ser “comprender el estado actual de una aplicación móvil respecto a la característica usabilidad”. Estas metas constituyen un tipo de meta de necesidad de información que da soporte a metas de negocio operativas, las cuales debieran estar alineadas con metas de negocio estratégicas. A su vez, una estrategia integrada ayuda a alcanzar las metas de un proyecto mediante sus actividades y métodos bien establecidos. En especial, la aplicación de dichas estrategias para llevar a cabo metas de necesidad de información de medición y evaluación, se puede realizar a partir de la instanciación de patrones de estrategia. La presente tesis doctoral se centra en definir un Enfoque Multinivel y Multipropósito de Evaluación de la Calidad que permita establecer metas de necesidad de información de medición y evaluación vinculadas con metas de negocio a distintos niveles organizacionales. Promueve además, la utilización de estrategias integradas específicas para llevar a cabo dichas metas, por medio de la instanciación de patrones de estrategia, como modo de proveer soluciones reusables a problemas recurrentes en la instanciación de estrategias integradas empleadas en proyectos de medición, evaluación y/o cambio.Facultad de Informátic

Quality patterns -- An approach to packaging software engineering experience

Building up experience for its reuse plays a key role in context of systematic quality and process improvement. An organizational approach for building competencies and supplying them to software projects is provided by the concept of the experience factory. A basic step within the experience factory is the continual accumulation of all kinds of experience and storing them systematically in a repository, the experience base. A systematic and adequate packaging of experience is essential to successful reuse in this context. It has to be identified, analyzed for its potential reuse and tailored to meet the future needs. In this paper we introduce quality patterns as a suitable way of packaging experience to make it reusable. Main characteristic of this approach is that gained experience is packaged beyond a problem--solution strategy. To illustrate our approach, we enrich a common mechanism in quality improvement programs in view of reusability. To enable an effective handling of qualit..