Towards Prioritizing Documentation Effort

Programmers need documentation to comprehend software, but they often lack the time to write it. Thus, programmers must prioritize their documentation effort to ensure that sections of code important to program comprehension are thoroughly explained. In this paper, we explore the possibility of automatically prioritizing documentation effort. We performed two user studies to evaluate the effectiveness of static source code attributes and textual analysis of source code towards prioritizing documentation effort. The first study used open-source API Libraries while the second study was conducted using closed-source industrial software from ABB. Our findings suggest that static source code attributes are poor predictors of documentation effort priority, whereas textual analysis of source code consistently performed well as a predictor of documentation effort priority

Technical Debt Prioritization: State of the Art. A Systematic Literature Review

Background. Software companies need to manage and refactor Technical Debt issues. Therefore, it is necessary to understand if and when refactoring Technical Debt should be prioritized with respect to developing features or fixing bugs. Objective. The goal of this study is to investigate the existing body of knowledge in software engineering to understand what Technical Debt prioritization approaches have been proposed in research and industry. Method. We conducted a Systematic Literature Review among 384 unique papers published until 2018, following a consolidated methodology applied in Software Engineering. We included 38 primary studies. Results. Different approaches have been proposed for Technical Debt prioritization, all having different goals and optimizing on different criteria. The proposed measures capture only a small part of the plethora of factors used to prioritize Technical Debt qualitatively in practice. We report an impact map of such factors. However, there is a lack of empirical and validated set of tools. Conclusion. We observed that technical Debt prioritization research is preliminary and there is no consensus on what are the important factors and how to measure them. Consequently, we cannot consider current research conclusive and in this paper, we outline different directions for necessary future investigations

Response oral / response

This work in four parts offers the practice of Bartram O’Neill, a collaborative partnership between an artist (Angela Bartram), and an artist/writer (Mary O’Neill), as an alternative creative strategy to the binaries of theory and practice, academic and artistic, event and text. To borrow and extend Wallace Bacon’s shore metaphor from his canonical publication, “The Dangerous Shore: From Elocution to Interpretation” (1960), this essay in four documents represents an amphibious practice in which different stages of its life cycle require different media.[1.] The four parts are: a score written during the performance Oral/Response that forms part of the event; images of the collaborative performance of the same title at Greestone Gallery, Lincoln (2011); a prose piece written in response to the performance; and questions and answers that discuss the concerns of the artists and the collaborative relationship. Each mode has informed the others and is a response to different sites. A gallery, an academic journal, an artist’s statement – these are all “sites” not only defined by a physical location, but they consist of dynamic ensembles that also include the artists’ bodies, the anticipated audience, any objects being used, and the atmosphere. Bacon categorized the relationship between the text and the performance as a negotiation between polarized opposites using the metaphor of travelling through waterways. This negotiation exists in the territory where the distinction between land and sea is blurred, the alluvial plains where rather than prioritizing one form over another, each manifestation generates potential for further responses. The result is an ongoing work

Complementing Measurements and Real Options Concepts to Support Inter-iteration Decision-Making in Agile Projects

Agile software projects are characterized by iterative and incremental development, accommodation of changes and active customer participation. The process is driven by creating business value for the client, assuming that the client (i) is aware of it, and (ii) is capable to estimate the business value, associated with the separate features of the system to be implemented. This paper is focused on the complementary use of measurement techniques and concepts of real-option-analysis to assist clients in assessing and comparing alternative sets of requirements. Our overall objective is to provide systematic support to clients for the decision-making process on what to implement in each iteration. The design of our approach is justified by using empirical data, published earlier by other authors

PRIORITY MANAGEMENT – A DIRECTION TOWARDS COMPETITIVENESS

In a time when the most of us have to cope with globalization, the key for surpassing the negative effects produced by it, resides in choosing the right strategy. This necessary involves a performance management. Through this paper we propose priority management as an efficient way of thinking about gaining the vital competitive advantage.priority management, the Pareto law, 1-3-6 method, competitiveness, efficiency

The provision of financial education in Malta

It is becoming evident that preparation for life requires more than developing the ability to read and write, manipulate figures, and become technologically savvy. The provision of holistic education also entails developing other forms of literacies, amongst which is the ability to empower individuals to manage personal finances and understand corporate and public financial decisions and outcomes. In the absence of such a preparation, students emerge out of compulsory schooling vulnerable to scams and untrained to manage personal wealth and plan ahead. Given that little local research has so far been undertaken to investigate this area, this paper is an attempt to stimulate discussion on financial education in Malta. It takes a close look at the local educational system and investigates access and content in this area provided by compulsory schooling. This paper employs content analysis of local and international official documentation to bring to the fore the urgent need for local research on the requisites to enhance the provisions of financial literacy. Further research into the levels of school leavers’ financial literacy and the quality of financial education is deemed crucial by this study to shed further light on the subject. This study emphasizes the lack of research in this important area, notwithstanding the fact that financial education is of direct interest to policy-makers, educators, and the business community.peer-reviewe