264 research outputs found
Towards a rigorous use of SPEM
International audienceModeling software process is a good way to improve development and thus quality of resulting applications. The OMG proposes the SPEM metamodel to describe software processes. Its concepts are described through class diagrams. Unfortunately, it lacks a formal description of its semantics that makes it hard to use. So, we propose a specialization of SPEM that clarifies it and we use OCL to formally express constraints on it
Iterative criteria-based approach to engineering the requirements of software development methodologies
Software engineering endeavours are typically based on and governed by the requirements of the target software; requirements identification is therefore an integral part of software development methodologies. Similarly, engineering a software development methodology (SDM) involves the identification of the requirements of the target methodology. Methodology engineering approaches pay special attention to this issue; however, they make little use of existing methodologies as sources of insight into methodology requirements. The authors propose an iterative method for eliciting and specifying the requirements of a SDM using existing methodologies as supplementary resources. The method is performed as the analysis phase of a methodology engineering process aimed at the ultimate design and implementation of a target methodology. An initial set of requirements is first identified through analysing the characteristics of the development situation at hand and/or via delineating the general features desirable in the target methodology. These initial requirements are used as evaluation criteria; refined through iterative application to a select set of relevant methodologies. The finalised criteria highlight the qualities that the target methodology is expected to possess, and are therefore used as a basis for de. ning the final set of requirements. In an example, the authors demonstrate how the proposed elicitation process can be used for identifying the requirements of a general object-oriented SDM. Owing to its basis in knowledge gained from existing methodologies and practices, the proposed method can help methodology engineers produce a set of requirements that is not only more complete in span, but also more concrete and rigorous
SPEM 2.0 extension for pervasive information systems
Pervasive computing is a research field of computing technology that aims to achieve a new
computing paradigm. In this paradigm, the physical environment has a high degree of pervasiveness and
availability of computers and other information technology (IT) devices, usually with communication
capabilities. Pervasive Information Systems (PIS), composed by these kinds of devices, bring issues that
challenge software development for them. Model-Driven Development (MDD), strongly focusing and relying
on models, has the potential to allow: the use of concepts closer to the domain and the reduction of semantic
gaps; higher automation and lower dependency to technological changes; higher capture of expert knowledge
and reuse; an overall increased productivity. Along with the focus and use of models, software development
processes are fundamental to efficient development efforts of successful software systems. For the description
of processes, Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model Specification (SPEM) is the current
standard specification published by the Object Management Group (OMG). This paper presents an extension
to SPEM (version 2.0) Base Plug-In Profile that includes stereotypes needed to support a suitable structural
process organization for MDD approaches aiming to develop software for PIS. A case study is provided to
evaluate the applicability of the extension
Towards a Formalization of a Framework to Express and Reason about Software Engineering Methods
Software Engineering is considered a knowledge-intensive discipline, in which knowledge creation, collection and sharing is an uninterrupted process. However, a large part of this knowledge exists in a tacit form and depends on practitioners. Therefore defining a mechanism to transform tacit knowledge into explicit one is of upmost importance. This paper presents a formalization approach to represent Software Engineering practitioners' tacit knowledge, which is related to their ways of working, as a set of explicit statements. The formalization is based on KUALI-BEH, which is a normative kernel extension of ESSENCE formal specification, and consists of three parts: an ontology to share a common representation of knowledge as a set of concepts; a Situational Method Engineering based algebra that represents well-defined method properties and operations; and a knowledge representation of the ontology and algebra using Description Logics. The main objectives of this initial formalization are to improve communication among humans and machines, computational inference and reuse of knowledge
Software process modeling languages: A systematic literature review
Context
Organizations working in software development are aware that processes are very important assets as well as they are very conscious of the need to deploy well-defined processes with the goal of improving software product development and, particularly, quality. Software process modeling languages are an important support for describing and managing software processes in software-intensive organizations.
Objective
This paper seeks to identify what software process modeling languages have been defined in last decade, the relationships and dependencies among them and, starting from the current state, to define directions for future research.
Method
A systematic literature review was developed. 1929 papers were retrieved by a manual search in 9 databases and 46 primary studies were finally included.
Results
Since 2000 more than 40 languages have been first reported, each of which with a concrete purpose. We show that different base technologies have been used to define software process modeling languages. We provide a scheme where each language is registered together with the year it was created, the base technology used to define it and whether it is considered a starting point for later languages. This scheme is used to illustrate the trend in software process modeling languages. Finally, we present directions for future research.
Conclusion
This review presents the different software process modeling languages that have been developed in the last ten years, showing the relevant fact that model-based SPMLs (Software Process Modeling Languages) are being considered as a current trend. Each one of these languages has been designed with a particular motivation, to solve problems which had been detected. However, there are still several problems to face, which have become evident in this review. This let us provide researchers with some guidelines for future research on this topic.Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad TIN2010-20057-C03-02Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad TIN 2010-12312-EJunta de AndalucĂa TIC-578
Software Development Process Modeling. Developers Perspective to Contemporary Modeling Techniques
Formal software development processes and well-defined development methodologies
are nowadays seen as the definite way to produce high-quality software within
time-limits and budgets. The variety of such high-level methodologies is huge
ranging from rigorous process frameworks like CMMI and RUP to more lightweight
agile methodologies. The need for managing this variety and the fact that
practically every software development organization has its own unique set of development
processes and methods have created a profession of software process
engineers. Different kinds of informal and formal software process modeling languages
are essential tools for process engineers. These are used to define processes
in a way which allows easy management of processes, for example process dissemination,
process tailoring and process enactment.
The process modeling languages are usually used as a tool for process engineering
where the main focus is on the processes themselves. This dissertation
has a different emphasis. The dissertation analyses modern software development
process modeling from the software developersâ point of view. The goal of the
dissertation is to investigate whether the software process modeling and the software
process models aid software developers in their day-to-day work and what are
the main mechanisms for this. The focus of the work is on the Software Process
Engineering Metamodel (SPEM) framework which is currently one of the most
influential process modeling notations in software engineering.
The research theme is elaborated through six scientific articles which represent
the dissertation research done with process modeling during an approximately
five year period. The research follows the classical engineering research discipline
where the current situation is analyzed, a potentially better solution is developed
and finally its implications are analyzed. The research applies a variety of different
research techniques ranging from literature surveys to qualitative studies done
amongst software practitioners.
The key finding of the dissertation is that software process modeling notations
and techniques are usually developed in process engineering terms. As a consequence
the connection between the process models and actual development work
is loose. In addition, the modeling standards like SPEM are partially incomplete
when it comes to pragmatic process modeling needs, like light-weight modeling
and combining pre-defined process components. This leads to a situation, where
the full potential of process modeling techniques for aiding the daily development
activities can not be achieved.
Despite these difficulties the dissertation shows that it is possible to use modeling
standards like SPEM to aid software developers in their work. The dissertation
presents a light-weight modeling technique, which software development teams
can use to quickly analyze their work practices in a more objective manner. The
dissertation also shows how process modeling can be used to more easily compare
different software development situations and to analyze their differences in a
systematic way. Models also help to share this knowledge with others.
A qualitative study done amongst Finnish software practitioners verifies the
conclusions of other studies in the dissertation. Although processes and development
methodologies are seen as an essential part of software development, the
process modeling techniques are rarely used during the daily development work.
However, the potential of these techniques intrigues the practitioners.
As a conclusion the dissertation shows that process modeling techniques, most
commonly used as tools for process engineers, can also be used as tools for organizing
the daily software development work. This work presents theoretical solutions
for bringing the process modeling closer to the ground-level software development
activities. These theories are proven feasible by presenting several case studies
where the modeling techniques are used e.g. to find differences in the work methods
of the members of a software team and to share the process knowledge to a
wider audience.Siirretty Doriast
Software engineering processes for self-adaptive systems
In this paper, we discuss how for self-adaptive systems some activities that traditionally occur at development-time are moved to run-time. Responsibilities for these activities shift from software engineers to the system itself, causing the traditional boundary between development-time and run-time to blur. As a consequence, we argue how the traditional software engineering process needs to be reconceptualized to distinguish both development-time and run-time activities, and to support designers in taking decisions on how to properly engineer such systems. Furthermore, we identify a number of challenges related to this required reconceptualization, and we propose initial ideas based on process modeling. We use the Software and Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model (SPEM) to specify which activities are meant to be performed off-line and on-line, and also the dependencies between them. The proposed models should capture information about the costs and benefits of shifting activities to run-time, since such models should support software engineers in their decisions when they are engineering self-adaptive systems
Towards a Formal Verification of Process Model's Properties - SimplePDL and TOCL Case Study
International audienceMore and more, models, through Domain Specific Languages (DSL), tend to be the solution to define complex systems. Expressing properties specific to these metamodels and checking them appear as an urgent need. Until now, the only complete industrial solutions that are available consider structural properties such as the ones that could be expressed in OCL. There are although some attempts on behavioural properties for DSL. This paper addresses a method to specify and then check temporal properties over models. The case study is SimplePDL, a process metamodel. We propose a way to use a temporal extension of OCL, TOCL, to express properties. We specify a models transformation to Petri Nets and LTL formulae for both the process model and its associated temporal properties. We check these properties using a model checker and enrich the model with the analysis results. This work is a first step towards a generic framework to specify and effectively check temporal properties over arbitrary models
Characterizing and evaluating the quality of software process modeling language: Comparison of ten representative model-based languages
Software organizations are very conscious that deployments of well-defined software processes improve software product development and its quality. Over last decade, many Software Process Modeling Languages (SPMLs) have been proposed to describe and manage software processes. However, each one presents advantages and disadvantages. The main challenge for an organization is to choose the best and most suitable SPML to meet its requirements. This paper proposes a Quality Model (QM) which has been defined conforms to QuEF (Quality Evaluation Framework). This QM allows to compare model-based SPMLs and it could be used by organizations to choose the most useful model-based SPML for their particular requirements. This paper also instances our QM to evaluate and compare 10 representative SPMLs of the various alternative approaches (metamodel-level approaches; SPML based on UML and approaches based on standards). Finally, this paper concludes there are many model-based proposals for SPM, but it is very difficult to establish with could be the commitment to follow. Some non-considered aspects until now have been identified (e.g., validation within enterprise environments, friendly support tools, mechanisms to carry out continuous improvement, mechanisms to establish business rules and elements for software process orchestrating).Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2-R (POLOLAS
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