1,454 research outputs found

    On the real world practice of Behaviour Driven Development

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    Surveys of industry practice over the last decade suggest that Behaviour Driven Development is a popular Agile practice. For example, 19% of respondents to the 14th State of Agile annual survey reported using BDD, placing it in the top 13 practices reported. As well as potential benefits, the adoption of BDD necessarily involves an additional cost of writing and maintaining Gherkin features and scenarios, and (if used for acceptance testing,) the associated step functions. Yet there is a lack of published literature exploring how BDD is used in practice and the challenges experienced by real world software development efforts. This gap is significant because without understanding current real world practice, it is hard to identify opportunities to address and mitigate challenges. In order to address this research gap concerning the challenges of using BDD, this thesis reports on a research project which explored: (a) the challenges of applying agile and undertaking requirements engineering in a real world context; (b) the challenges of applying BDD specifically and (c) the application of BDD in open-source projects to understand challenges in this different context. For this purpose, we progressively conducted two case studies, two series of interviews, four iterations of action research, and an empirical study. The first case study was conducted in an avionics company to discover the challenges of using an agile process in a large scale safety critical project environment. Since requirements management was found to be one of the biggest challenges during the case study, we decided to investigate BDD because of its reputation for requirements management. The second case study was conducted in the company with an aim to discover the challenges of using BDD in real life. The case study was complemented with an empirical study of the practice of BDD in open source projects, taking a study sample from the GitHub open source collaboration site. As a result of this Ph.D research, we were able to discover: (i) challenges of using an agile process in a large scale safety-critical organisation, (ii) current state of BDD in practice, (iii) technical limitations of Gherkin (i.e., the language for writing requirements in BDD), (iv) challenges of using BDD in a real project, (v) bad smells in the Gherkin specifications of open source projects on GitHub. We also presented a brief comparison between the theoretical description of BDD and BDD in practice. This research, therefore, presents the results of lessons learned from BDD in practice, and serves as a guide for software practitioners planning on using BDD in their projects

    Untersuchung von PerformanzverÀnderungen auf Quelltextebene

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    Änderungen am Quelltext einer Software können zu verĂ€nderter Performanz fĂŒhren. Um das Auftreten von Regressionen zu verhindern und die Effekte von QuelltextĂ€nderungen, von denen eine Verbesserung erwartet wird, zu ĂŒberprĂŒfen, ist die Messung der Auswirkungen von QuelltextĂ€nderungen auf die Performanz sowie das tiefgehende VerstĂ€ndnis des Laufzeitverhaltens der beteiligten Quelltextkonstrukte notwendig. Die Spezifikation von Benchmarks oder Lasttests, um Regressionen zu erkennen, erfordert immensen manuellen Aufwand. FĂŒr das VerstĂ€ndnis der Änderungen sind anschließend oft weitere Experimente notwendig. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Ansatz Performanzanalyse von Softwaresystemen (Peass) entwickelt. Peass beruht auf der Annahme, dass PerformanzĂ€nderungen durch Messung der Performanz von Unittests erkennbar ist. Peass besteht aus (1) einer Methode zur Regressionstestselektion, d. h. zur Bestimmung, zwischen welchen Commits sich die Performanz geĂ€ndert haben kann basierend auf statischer Quelltextanalyse und Analyse des Laufzeitverhaltens, (2) einer Methode zur Umwandlung von Unittests in Performanztests und zur statistisch zuverlĂ€ssigen und reproduzierbaren Messung der Performanz und (3) einer Methode zur UnterstĂŒtzung des Verstehens von Ursachen von PerformanzĂ€nderungen. Der Peass-Ansatzes ermöglicht es somit, durch den Workload von Unittests messbare PerformanzĂ€nderungen automatisiert zu untersuchen. Die ValiditĂ€t des Ansatzes wird geprĂŒft, indem gezeigt wird, dass (1) typische Performanzprobleme in kĂŒnstlichen TestfĂ€llen und (2) reale, durch Entwickler markierte PerformanzĂ€nderungen durch Peass gefunden werden können. Durch eine Fallstudie in einem laufenden Softwareentwicklungsprojekt wird darĂŒber hinaus gezeigt, dass Peass in der Lage ist, relevante PerformanzĂ€nderungen zu erkennen.:1 Einleitung 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Ansatz 1.3 Forschungsfragen 1.4 BeitrĂ€ge 1.5 Aufbau der Arbeit 2 Grundlagen 2.1 Software Performance Engineering 2.2 Modellbasierter Ansatz 2.2.1 Überblick 2.2.2 Performanzantipattern 2.3 Messbasierter Ansatz 2.3.1 Messprozess 2.3.2 Messwertanalyse 2.4 Messung in kĂŒnstlichen Umgebungen 2.4.1 Benchmarking 2.4.2 Lasttests 2.4.3 Performanztests 2.5 Messung in realen Umgebungen: Monitoring 2.5.1 Überblick 2.5.2 Umsetzung 2.5.3 Werkzeuge 3 Regressionstestselektion 3.1 Ansatz 3.1.1 Grundidee 3.1.2 Voraussetzungen 3.1.3 Zweistufiger Prozess 3.2 Statische Testselektion 3.2.1 Selektierte Änderungen 3.2.2 Prozess 3.2.3 Implementierung 3.3 Tracevergleich 3.3.1 Selektierte Änderungen 3.3.2 Prozess 3.3.3 Implementierung 3.3.4 Kombination mit statischer Analyse 3.4 Evaluation 3.4.1 Implementierung 3.4.2 Exaktheit 3.4.3 Korrektheit 3.4.4 Diskussion der ValiditĂ€t 3.5 Verwandte Arbeiten 3.5.1 Funktionale Regressionstestbestimmung 3.5.2 Regressionstestbestimmung fĂŒr Performanztests 4 Messprozess 4.1 Vergleich von Mess- und Analysemethoden 4.1.1 Vorgehen 4.1.2 Fehlerbetrachtung 4.1.3 WorkloadgrĂ¶ĂŸe der kĂŒnstlichen Unittestpaare 4.2 Messmethode 4.2.1 Aufbau einer Iteration 4.2.2 Beenden von Messungen 4.2.3 Garbage Collection je Iteration 4.2.4 Umgang mit Standardausgabe 4.2.5 Zusammenfassung der Messmethode 4.3 Analysemethode 4.3.1 Auswahl des statistischen Tests 4.3.2 Ausreißerentfernung 4.3.3 Parallelisierung 4.4 Evaluierung 4.4.1 Vergleich mit JMH 4.4.2 Reproduzierbarkeit der Ergebnisse 4.4.3 Fazit 4.5 Verwandte Arbeiten 4.5.1 Beenden von Messungen 4.5.2 Änderungserkennung 4.5.3 Anomalieerkennung 5 Ursachenanalyse 5.1 Reduktion des Overheads der Messung einzelner Methoden 5.1.1 Generierung von Beispielprojekten 5.1.2 Messung von MethodenausfĂŒhrungsdauern 5.1.3 Optionen zur Overheadreduktion 5.1.4 Messergebnisse 5.1.5 ÜberprĂŒfung mit MooBench 5.2 Messkonfiguration der Ursachenanalyse 5.2.1 Grundlagen 5.2.2 Fehlerbetrachtung 5.2.3 Ansatz 5.2.4 Messergebnisse 5.3 Verwandte Arbeiten 5.3.1 Monitoringoverhead 5.3.2 Ursachenanalyse fĂŒr PerformanzĂ€nderungen 5.3.3 Ursachenanalyse fĂŒr Performanzprobleme 6 Evaluation 6.1 Validierung durch kĂŒnstliche Performanzprobleme 6.1.1 Reproduktion durch Benchmarks 6.1.2 Umwandlung der Benchmarks 6.1.3 ÜberprĂŒfen von Problemen mit Peass 6.2 Evaluation durch reale Performanzprobleme 6.2.1 Untersuchung dokumentierter PerformanzĂ€nderungen offenen Projekten 6.2.2 Untersuchung der PerformanzĂ€nderungen in GeoMap 7 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 7.1 Zusammenfassung 7.2 AusblickChanges to the source code of a software may result in varied performance. In order to prevent the occurance of regressions and check the effect of source changes, which are expected to result in performance improvements, both the measurement of the impact of source code changes and a deep understanding of the runtime behaviour of the used source code elements are necessary. The specification of benchmarks and load tests, which are able to detect performance regressions, requires immense manual effort. To understand the changes, often additional experiments are necessary. This thesis develops the Peass approach (Performance analysis of software systems). Peass is based on the assumption, that performance changes can be identified by unit tests. Therefore, Peass consists of (1) a method for regression test selection, which determines between which commits the performance may have changed based on static code analysis and analysis of the runtime behavior, (2) a method for transforming unit tests into performance tests and for statistically reliable and reproducible measurement of the performance and (3) a method for aiding the diagnosis of root causes of performance changes. The Peass approach thereby allows to automatically examine performance changes that are measurable by the workload of unit tests. The validity of the approach is evaluated by showing that (1) typical performance problems in artificial test cases and (2) real, developer-tagged performance changes can be found by Peass. Furthermore, a case study in an ongoing software development project shows that Peass is able to detect relevant performance changes.:1 Einleitung 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Ansatz 1.3 Forschungsfragen 1.4 BeitrĂ€ge 1.5 Aufbau der Arbeit 2 Grundlagen 2.1 Software Performance Engineering 2.2 Modellbasierter Ansatz 2.2.1 Überblick 2.2.2 Performanzantipattern 2.3 Messbasierter Ansatz 2.3.1 Messprozess 2.3.2 Messwertanalyse 2.4 Messung in kĂŒnstlichen Umgebungen 2.4.1 Benchmarking 2.4.2 Lasttests 2.4.3 Performanztests 2.5 Messung in realen Umgebungen: Monitoring 2.5.1 Überblick 2.5.2 Umsetzung 2.5.3 Werkzeuge 3 Regressionstestselektion 3.1 Ansatz 3.1.1 Grundidee 3.1.2 Voraussetzungen 3.1.3 Zweistufiger Prozess 3.2 Statische Testselektion 3.2.1 Selektierte Änderungen 3.2.2 Prozess 3.2.3 Implementierung 3.3 Tracevergleich 3.3.1 Selektierte Änderungen 3.3.2 Prozess 3.3.3 Implementierung 3.3.4 Kombination mit statischer Analyse 3.4 Evaluation 3.4.1 Implementierung 3.4.2 Exaktheit 3.4.3 Korrektheit 3.4.4 Diskussion der ValiditĂ€t 3.5 Verwandte Arbeiten 3.5.1 Funktionale Regressionstestbestimmung 3.5.2 Regressionstestbestimmung fĂŒr Performanztests 4 Messprozess 4.1 Vergleich von Mess- und Analysemethoden 4.1.1 Vorgehen 4.1.2 Fehlerbetrachtung 4.1.3 WorkloadgrĂ¶ĂŸe der kĂŒnstlichen Unittestpaare 4.2 Messmethode 4.2.1 Aufbau einer Iteration 4.2.2 Beenden von Messungen 4.2.3 Garbage Collection je Iteration 4.2.4 Umgang mit Standardausgabe 4.2.5 Zusammenfassung der Messmethode 4.3 Analysemethode 4.3.1 Auswahl des statistischen Tests 4.3.2 Ausreißerentfernung 4.3.3 Parallelisierung 4.4 Evaluierung 4.4.1 Vergleich mit JMH 4.4.2 Reproduzierbarkeit der Ergebnisse 4.4.3 Fazit 4.5 Verwandte Arbeiten 4.5.1 Beenden von Messungen 4.5.2 Änderungserkennung 4.5.3 Anomalieerkennung 5 Ursachenanalyse 5.1 Reduktion des Overheads der Messung einzelner Methoden 5.1.1 Generierung von Beispielprojekten 5.1.2 Messung von MethodenausfĂŒhrungsdauern 5.1.3 Optionen zur Overheadreduktion 5.1.4 Messergebnisse 5.1.5 ÜberprĂŒfung mit MooBench 5.2 Messkonfiguration der Ursachenanalyse 5.2.1 Grundlagen 5.2.2 Fehlerbetrachtung 5.2.3 Ansatz 5.2.4 Messergebnisse 5.3 Verwandte Arbeiten 5.3.1 Monitoringoverhead 5.3.2 Ursachenanalyse fĂŒr PerformanzĂ€nderungen 5.3.3 Ursachenanalyse fĂŒr Performanzprobleme 6 Evaluation 6.1 Validierung durch kĂŒnstliche Performanzprobleme 6.1.1 Reproduktion durch Benchmarks 6.1.2 Umwandlung der Benchmarks 6.1.3 ÜberprĂŒfen von Problemen mit Peass 6.2 Evaluation durch reale Performanzprobleme 6.2.1 Untersuchung dokumentierter PerformanzĂ€nderungen offenen Projekten 6.2.2 Untersuchung der PerformanzĂ€nderungen in GeoMap 7 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 7.1 Zusammenfassung 7.2 Ausblic

    2023-2024 Catalog

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    The 2023-2024 Governors State University Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog is a comprehensive listing of current information regarding:Degree RequirementsCourse OfferingsUndergraduate and Graduate Rules and Regulation

    Understanding The Role of a Regional Magnet School in Creative Identity Development of Ethnically and Culturally Diverse Adolescents: A Case Study

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    The purpose of this dissertation exploratory case study was to examine the creativity-supportive practices at an innovative regional magnet school shaping Ethnically & Culturally Diverse (ECD) students’ creative identity development as perceived by different stakeholders including ECD students enrolled in the first three cohorts, teachers, and school administrators of RichTech Regional Magnet High School [RRMHS] (pseudonym). This single qualitative case study employed a small component of a quantitative survey, the results of which guided in part the design of interview protocols and sampling procedures for recruiting qualitative participants. Using a pragmatic research lens, I obtained and analyzed the diverse qualitative data including interviews with ECD students, teachers, and school administrators, open-ended qualitative survey responses, my field notes, and reflective memos. The findings of this dissertation study demonstrated that the creative identity development of ECD students can be supported in the context of an innovative regional magnet high school in three ways: (a) through facilitation of creative learning opportunities encompassing open-endedness and flexibility, non-linear synergy, student-centered future orientation as well as productive interactions of diverse perspectives; (b) through augmenting unique strengths of an innovative regional magnet school entailing limited size of student enrollment, intentional design of integrated diverse learning environment, as well as formulation of an innovative curricular and pedagogical model; and (c) through the promotion of teacher autonomy, the sustainable rapport between teachers and school administrators, development of sound beliefs by teachers and school administrators about student creativity as well as through leveraging teachers’ prior practical experiences of teaching ECD adolescent students. These key findings, recommendations, and implications for practice and future research are discussed in light of the limitations of the present study. With the limited research on the role of unique learning environments such as an innovative magnet school in promoting ECD adolescents\u27 creativity, this study is a small first attempt to better understand the magnet school-based salient opportunities for and experiences of ECD students’ creative identity development

    The potential delictual liability of non-vaccinating parents in South Africa

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    Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2023.This thesis explores the potential delictual liability of non-vaccinating parents in South Africa for the harm caused to another by failing to have their child vaccinated. The South African common-law delict is explored with specific reference to the five common-law delictual elements, as well as the three historic actions: the actio iniuriarum; the Germanic action for pain and suffering; and the actio legis Aquiliae. In Chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the research topic, and specifically the issue of non-vaccination, what it entails for purposes of this thesis, and why the non-vaccination of a child may potentially attract delictual liability. Chapter 2 explores non-vaccination in greater detail, including the importance of vaccination, a short overview of the history of non-vaccination, and why non-vaccination is still regarded as a global health threat. Non-vaccination is considered against a constitutional backdrop in Chapter 3 to establish whether children have an express or implied constitutional right to vaccination and whether or not parents have a corresponding duty to vaccinate their children. Chapter 3 also considers the common-law rights of parents as well as the role of the Children’s Act in the constitutional conundrum. Foreign-law considerations regarding the potential civil liability of non-vaccinating parents are considered in Chapter 4 with reference to foreign case law and legislation. The South African common-law delict is explored in Chapter 5 and each delictual element is considered in detail to establish whether non-vaccinating parents could possibly face delictual liability for the harm caused to others by their failure to have their child vaccinated. In Chapter 6 recommendations for statutory reform are made with reference to the consequences of imposing delictual liability and to assist litigants in a delictual suit. Chapter 7 concludes the thesis with a short summary of the chapters and concluding remarks. Keywords: non-vaccination; anti-vax; delictual liability; children’s rights; negligence; torts; duties; breach; best interests; common-law delict; wrongfulness; harm; conduct; causation; fault.Skye FoundationPrivate LawLLDUnrestricte

    The Struggle to Stay in Relation: How the Dominance of an Ideology of Certainty Marginalises Practical Judgment and Political Action, from the Perspective of a Senior Manager in the NHS

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    In this thesis I explore my everyday work as a director of research in an NHS mental health trust. I use collaborative narrative autoethnography to explore episodes where research activity and evidence is contested, questioned, and sometimes causes conflict. In a health and care environment such as the NHS, it is often assumed that producing evidence of a high quality puts an end to politics and dispute. Drawing on the complexity sciences, pragmatism, and process sociology, I claim that, in addition to the scientific and bureaucratic rationality of evidence-based medicine (EBM), undertaking and using research is a complex and relational process that involves contestation and working with conflicting notions of the ‘good’. Evidence may be (more or less) clear about an area of practice, but producing research and deciding what should be done with it involves human, social, and political activities characterised by strongly held values, contested meanings, and conflicts. Through the research I have done for this thesis, I found that the production and use of clinical research in healthcare is dominated by an ideology of certainty, which manifests as EBM, and bureaucratic rationality in health service management. This ideology of certainty closes down discussion in favour of bureaucratic or scientific ends. In turn, this may lead to conflict and the breakdown of working relationships. In the course of my research for this thesis, I found that it is impossible to run clinical research without exercising practical judgement, taking political action, and being immersed in the social melee of human relating. I have argued that navigating this ongoing and dynamic process in a way that might be less harmful requires practical judgment. My research contributes to the ongoing conversation that selves are social, and therefore, even the most scientifically rational research is also social, constrained and enabled through differing ideologies, thought styles, beliefs, and values. Even research that is described as objective (for example, Randomised Controlled Trials [RCTs]) involve processes that are relational, political, and processual, by nature of the everyday activities undertaken to ensure that the research takes place. By improving our understanding of the challenges that arise from the relational nature of research and by exercising practical judgement, it may be possible to help to sustain research activity, reduce the potential for conflict and harm, and, ultimately, make the research more useful. My thesis concludes that although EBM and RCTs are essential in how the health service operates, practical judgement (phronesis) and political action are important when managing research activity. Working with conflict, ambiguity, and uncertainty is not easy. However, engaging reflexively — in particular, with prior assumptions, differences of views and beliefs, and within a community of inquiry — can increase confidence of managers and clinicians in dealing with the complex everyday work that they are involved in when it comes to research activity

    Agile software development approach for \u27ad-hoc\u27 IT projects

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    Restrictive Scrum assumptions make the effectiveness of this approach debatable in projects deviating from typical execution conditions. This article delivers a comprehensive software development approach for both academic and commercial Information Technology (IT) projects effectuated by teams that are hampered by significantly unsystematic participation of project members and mercurial internal communication. The nature of ‘ad-hoc’ projects imposes another level of difficulty in terms of both managing the conduct of such a project and ensuring the quality of the end product. Multicyclic action research enabled a gradual adaptation of the Scrum approach to support such project conditions. This study introduces major alterations to Sprint implementation and minor enhancements within the documentation process to streamline knowledge sharing among Development Team members. Proposed key alterations include the evolution of Daily Scrum towards Weekly Scrum, the possibility of extending Sprints length, the eventuality to switch team members during Sprint due to substantial failure to meet deadlines, having at least two team members responsible for a single Product Backlog Item (PBI) at all times, as well as exclusion of Burndown Chart in favor for Development Team members updating their working time. Positive validation of enhancements in mixed settings confirms that the generic Scrum framework can be adapted to support highly volatile projects. The proposed approach is suitable not only for carrying out software development initiatives that rely heavily on the skills of external experts and/or volunteers. It also supports traditional Scrum teams that seek to reduce their exposure to risk arising from organizational changes

    Strategies Community Bank Managers Use to Address Rising Financial Regulations Compliance Costs

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    Increasing financial regulations compliance costs have the potential for adverse business outcomes for community banks. Community bank managers are concerned about increasing financial regulations compliance costs because it is the number one predictor of community banks’ failures. Grounded in the resources-based view theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that community bank managers use to mitigate increasing financial regulations compliance costs. The participants were 10 community bank managers and senior staff of a community bank in Maryland who successfully mitigated increasing financial regulations compliance costs. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing the organization’s internal documents. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: training, leadership, proactive approach to regulations, and organization retooling. A key recommendation is for community bank managers to stimulate employees’ innovation and creativity skills through the mediating role of a transformational leadership style. The implications for positive social change include the potential for community banks to improve revenues and profits so they can contribute to the development of the local community they serve

    Strategies Community Bank Managers Use to Address Rising Financial Regulations Compliance Costs

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    Increasing financial regulations compliance costs have the potential for adverse business outcomes for community banks. Community bank managers are concerned about increasing financial regulations compliance costs because it is the number one predictor of community banks’ failures. Grounded in the resources-based view theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that community bank managers use to mitigate increasing financial regulations compliance costs. The participants were 10 community bank managers and senior staff of a community bank in Maryland who successfully mitigated increasing financial regulations compliance costs. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing the organization’s internal documents. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: training, leadership, proactive approach to regulations, and organization retooling. A key recommendation is for community bank managers to stimulate employees’ innovation and creativity skills through the mediating role of a transformational leadership style. The implications for positive social change include the potential for community banks to improve revenues and profits so they can contribute to the development of the local community they serve

    Handbook Transdisciplinary Learning

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    What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education
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