Agile Case Study Evaluation In Middle Size Project

In the last few years Agile methodologies appeared as a reaction to traditional ways of developing software and acknowledge the need for an alternative to documentation driven, heavyweight software development processes. This paper shortly presents a combination between Rational Uni ed Process and an agile approach for software development of e-business applications. The resulting approach is described stressing on the strong aspects of both combined methodologies. The article provides a case study of the proposed methodology which was developed and executed in a successful e-project in the area of the embedded systems

Generalized Nets Model of an E-Learning System Software Architecture

The paper has been presented at the International Conference Pioneers of Bulgarian Mathematics, Dedicated to Nikola Obreshko ff and Lubomir Tschakaloff , Sofi a, July, 2006.Component-based software engineering and software architecture are tightly connected areas in computer science. Software architecture presents the functionality of the system as decomposition into components, the properties of these components and the connectors between them. This paper illustrates a methodology for application of the theory of Generalized Nets (GNs) as a language for description of software systems architecture. According to this methodology, every component in the system, as well as every connector is represented by a single GN transition. This way the positions of the transition describe the ports of components and connectors in the system. This paper introduces a model of the component-based architecture of the e-learning system ARCADE, which is created, with respect to the proposed methodology for description with GNs. The four main subsystems are regarded as components in the GNs model. Their additional sub-modules are presented as the services provided by the components. Method calls are regarded as the connectors between these components. Further, the GNs model is compared with the existing UML diagrams, specifying the design of ARCADE

Middleware Service Support for Modern Application Presentations

Nowadays, with steadily increasing number of various markup languages and their dialects, application developers need more often to rewrite the presentation in order to support more client devices. Java programmers using JSP for dynamic generation of the presentation layer have to create for given content different Java Server Pages (JSP)´s for showing it in different HTTP, WAP and Palm client. Instead of rewriting the same JSP several times, authors demonstrate an approach of separation of content and presentation form, by means of XSLT transformation over XML content. The client device type is detected by a server-side detector, which uses the type for choosing the correct XSLT for the correspondent XML content generated by a JSP. Moreover, for non-XML browsers, the detector invokes a transformer, which generates on-the-fly any-ML presentation using both the XML and XSLT

eXPERT approach for e-business software development

All Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) developing e-commerce and e-business software have similar business objectives as less time to the market, better quality, and cheaper cost. Current projects are very large and complex and it becomes difficult to handle them. There are different private methods and techniques developed to overcome this problem. The latest studies on the well-known software development methodologies and their applicability to e-projects reveal that they do not fit very well the priorities, the abilities and the corporate culture of SMEs developing e-business or e-commerce applications. Traditional methodologies assume that if the programmers tried hard enough, they could anticipate the complete set of requirements early and reduce cost by eliminating change, which can be reasonable in stable environments, but it is not the case at all in e-projects. In the fast changing environment of e-projects change cannot be eliminated; rather than eliminate rework, the new strategy is to reduce its cost, while retaining quality. There are a number of reports showing increased productivity and software quality by applying Extreme Programming (XP) principles [1]. However, even projects that have adopted several or all XP practices meet project management problems, which are related to estimating and planning the project, both in terms of time and costs. To overcome this obstacle European project eXPERT (IST-2001-34488) has the objective to define agile and integrated approach guiding development of e-projects. The approach, named also eXPERT, focuses on combining XP and Personal Software Process (PSP) practices [2]. The main aims and logics of eXPERT project and underlying software methodologies are presented in this paper. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the objectives of eXPERT project. In section 3 we describe the basic software engineering practices, which will be used – XP and PSP. Section 4 discusses issues in the process of combination of XP and PSP principles. Section 5 concludes the paper

A Model for Strengthening the Software Engineering Research

Like all other New Member States (NMS) Bulgaria is experiencing a dramatic change in all areas of its society. These changes reflect very seriously on the research capacity of the country and, in particular to Sofia University (SU). The Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (FMI) has experienced some serious problems closely related to the general socio-economic and the research environment in Bulgaria. This paper describes a model for strengthening the research capacity of FMI, especially the one in the area of Software Engineering. The case study of successful industry-university cooperation in the framework of European project is presente

EDUCATION IN INFORMATICS AT SOFIA UNIVERSITY - CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE PLANS

The paper presents some real experiences, emerging models and lessons learnt based on the case of Sofia University - Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (FMI), and its partners. Sofia University has always played a very important role for the development of the country. The university experiences a lot of challenges related to the overall transformation of the economic and social system in the country, the changing models of education, the new role of the universities in the knowledge-based society and the great demand for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) specialists. Sofia University is also challenged by the opportunity to be actively involved in the development of the European space of higher education. The outcomes of an internal university project aimed at the establishment of ACM/IEEE based BSc programs in Computer Science, Software Engineering and Information Systems are described and analyzed. Some experience in developing a layer of MSc programs as a live link to the professional ICT society and ICT industry is also described. Some future plans for the development of the Computing Curricula and its coordination with the European ICT education, research and innovation agenda are presented as well

eXPERT approach and framework for analysing experiments with it

The paper introduces a light method for software development applicable to small teams developing projects characterised with often changing requirements, tight schedules, and high quality demands. The method is called eXPERT and builds on the principles of eXtreme Programming (XP) and the Personal Software Process (PSP). The paper describes the objectives and logics of the eXPERT approach, as well as framework for analyzing experiments with it

Building a Research University Ecosystem: the Case of Software Engineering Education at Sofia University

This paper analyses the specifics and the tendencies in building of the knowledge society and the role of the universities in this process. Some European policies and programs dedicated to the new role of the universities in realizing the Lisbon Strategy are analysed as well. It is emphasized on the importance of integration of the ‘knowledge triangle’ (education, research and innovation) into a research university and on the urgent need to re-design the university activities according the new requirements. This paper describes some real experiences, emerging models and lessons learnt based on the case of Software Engineering education and research being held at Sofia University

A Case Study on the Adoption of Measurable Agile Software Development Process

Agile methodologies for software development meet the challenges of the current highly dynamic and competitive business environment. The aim of this case study is to improve existing software development process in a project for the public administration, following the basic principles of agile methodologies. Appropriate metrics for continuous evaluation of the process are introduces to help evaluating and improving the methodology. The main objectives of the new methodology are to improve communication with customers, to improve communication among different distributed teams and inside the teams, and to continuously evaluate the way software is developed through selection and usage of software metrics. The paper presents the results of methodology adoption in two subsequent iterations of a real project

Personal Extreme Programming – An Agile Process for Autonomous Developers

Despite the tendency of growing the size and complexity of the developed software, significant part of it is still developed by autonomous developers. The current research study proposes a modification of PSP which aims at lightening the software development process and making it easier to follow, while keeping the PSP basic principles. The new methodology is extended with proven efficient development practices from the Extreme Programming in order to support better project planning and product quality control. The paper presents the results of methodology adoption and compares it to ad-hock development