Defining and validating a feature-driven requirements engineering approach

[EN] The specification of requirements is a key activity for achieving the goals of any software project and it has long been established and recognized by researchers and practitioners. Within Software Product Lines (SPL), this activity is even more critical owing to the need to deal with common, variable, and product-specific requirements, not only for a single product but for the whole set of products. In this paper, we present a Feature-Driven Requirements Engineering approach (FeDRE) that provides support to the requirements specification of SPL. The approach realizes features into functional requirements by considering the variability captured in a feature model. It also provides detailed guidelines on how to associate chunks of features from a feature model and to consider them as the context for the Use Case specification. The evaluation of the approach is illustrated in a case study for developing an SPL of mobile applications for emergency notifications. This case study was applied within 14 subjects, 8 subjects from Universitat Politècnica de València and 6 subjects from Federal University of Bahia. Evaluations concerning the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, effectiveness and efficiency as regards requirements analysts using the approach are also presented. The results show that FeDRE was perceived as easy to learn and useful by the participants.This research work is cofounded by the Hispano-Brazilian Interuniversity Cooperation Program (HBP-2011-0015), the MULTIPLE project (TIN2009-13838) and the FPU program (AP2009-4635) from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, and the ValI+D program (ACIF/2011/235) Generalitat Valenciana. Copyright 2014 Carnegie Mellon University. This material is based upon work funded and supported by the Department of Defense under Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0003 with Carnegie Mellon University for the operation of the Software Engineering Institute, a federally funded research and development center. NO WARRANTY. THIS CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE MATERIAL IS FURNISHED ON AN “AS-IS” BASIS. CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO ANY MATTER INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR PURPOSE OR MERCHANTABILITY, EXCLUSIVITY, OR RESULTS OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE MATERIAL. CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO FREEDOM FROM PATENT, TRADEMARK, OR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. This material has been approved for public release and unlimited distribution. Carnegie Mellon® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University. DM-0000867. This work was partially supported by the National Institute of Science and Technology for Software Engineering (INES11), funded by CAPES, CNPq and FACEPE, grants 573964/2008-4 and APQ-1037-1.03/08 and CNPq grants 305968/2010-6, 559997/2010-8, 474766/2010-1 and FAPESB. The authors also appreciate the value-adding work of all their colleagues Loreno Alvim, Larissa Rocha, Ivonei Freitas, Tassio Vale and Iuri Santos who make great contributions to the Scoping activity of FeDRE approach.De Oliveira, RP.; Blanes Domínguez, D.; González Huerta, J.; Insfrán Pelozo, CE.; Abrahao Gonzales, SM.; Cohen, S.; De Almeida, ES. (2014). Defining and validating a feature-driven requirements engineering approach. Journal of Universal Computer Science. 20(5):666-691. https://doi.org/10.3217/jucs-020-05-0666S66669120

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Altered Risk of Lung Cancer in a Population-Based Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been consistently associated with increased risk of lung cancer. However, previous studies have had limited ability to determine whether the association is due to smoking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) population-based case-control study recruited 2100 cases and 2120 controls, of whom 1934 cases and 2108 controls reported about diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, COPD (chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema), or asthma more than 1 year before enrollment. We estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression. After adjustment for smoking, other previous lung diseases, and study design variables, lung cancer risk was elevated among individuals with a history of chronic bronchitis (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.5-2.5), emphysema (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.4-2.8), or COPD (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 2.0-3.1). Among current smokers, association between chronic bronchitis and lung cancer was strongest among lighter smokers. Asthma was associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer in males (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.30-0.78). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that the associations of personal history of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD with increased risk of lung cancer are not entirely due to smoking. Inflammatory processes may both contribute to COPD and be important for lung carcinogenesis

Predicting When Product Line Investment Pays

A product line approach may appear very attractive, with obvious benefits in speedier time to market and higher quality, however many organizations demand financial justification before proceeding. Without knowing costs, the decision makers won't budget funds or personnel to carry out the up-front asset construction tasks. In addition, not all organizations are ready to commit up front to a full asset set, one that covers most if not all product line features. Many managers favor an incremental approach to product line adoption, one that first tackles areas of highest and most readily available commonality, earning payback early in the adoption cycle. This report defines key factors to consider in taking an incremental approach to fielding a product line. An organization building a business case can apply these factors to show that product line investment can result in product development savings. The example presented here shows a net savings of almost $180 million in projects that would have cost about$600 million under traditional development approaches. The $180 million in savings takes into account an investment of$54 million in product line start-up costs. The example also illustrates ways to present the data needed to make a compelling business case

Product Line State of the Practice Report

Software product lines represent a new and promising approach for fielding software systems. Companies that have launched software product line efforts report significant improvements in cost savings, quality, productivity, and time to market. Technically, they report a high degree of success in developing approaches that address the software engineering and technical management of their product lines. Organizationally, these companies report success as well as challenges that they must still overcome. This technical note reports on the state of software product line practice in industry. The report uses a narrative approach, based on a composite of individual companies' experiences in implementing software product lines. The report blends a case study with the results of a product line questionnaire that was sent to organizations with meaningful product line experiences and with the results of a product line workshop held during the recent International Conference on Software Reuse