Measuring the software process and product: Lessons learned in the SEL

The software development process and product can and should be measured. The software measurement process at the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) has taught a major lesson: develop a goal-driven paradigm (also characterized as a goal/question/metric paradigm) for data collection. Project analysis under this paradigm leads to a design for evaluating and improving the methodology of software development and maintenance

Models and metrics for software management and engineering

This paper attempts to characterize and present a state of the art view of several quantitative models and metrics of the software life cycle. These models and metrics can be used to aid in managing and engineering software projects. They deal with various aspects of the software process and product, including resources allocation and estimation, changes and errors, size, complexity and reliability. Some indication is given of the extent to which the various models have been used and the success they have achieved

Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) report to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Software development predictors, error analysis, reliability models and software metric analysis are studied. The use of dynamic characteristics as predictors for software development is also studied

A study of systems implementation languages for the POCCNET system

The results are presented of a study of systems implementation languages for the Payload Operations Control Center Network (POCCNET). Criteria are developed for evaluating the languages, and fifteen existing languages are evaluated on the basis of these criteria

Beneficial and Harmful Agile Practices for Product Quality

There is the widespread belief that Agile neglects the product quality. This lack of understanding how Agile processes assure the quality of the product prevents especially companies from regulated domains from an adoption of Agile. This work aims to identify which Agile Practices contribute towards product quality. Hence, data from a survey study is analyzed to identify Ag-ile Practices which are beneficial or harmful for the quality of the product. From 49 practices that were used in the survey so far, 36 were perceived to have a positive impact on product quality, while four practices were rated as being harmful. The results enrich understanding of how product quality can be achieved in Agile, and support selection of practices to improve quality

GRAAL - A graph algorithmic language

FORTRAN-based version, FGRAAL, of graph algorithmic language GRAA

Evaluating software development characteristics: Assessment of software measures in the Software Engineering Laboratory

Work on metrics is discussed. Factors that affect software quality are reviewed. Metrics is discussed in terms of criteria achievements, reliability, and fault tolerance. Subjective and objective metrics are distinguished. Product/process and cost/quality metrics are characterized and discussed

Storia e medicina di genere

La salute non è un campo neutrale. Il concetto di diversità, declinato sui temi del sesso e del genere, è uno degli strumenti della riflessione clinica, ma anche di quella bioetica - quando discute, in particolare, del principio di uguaglianza. Il tema ha una storia medica recente. Proviamo rapidamente, attraverso un riesame della letteratura, a verificare se, in prospettiva storica, questa affermazione di ‘contemporaneità’ sia effettivamente condivisibile

Local Site Behaviour in the 1976 Friuli Earthquake

Soon after the main shock of Friuli, Italy, May 6th 1976 earthquake, two strong motion recorders accelerographs were installed in two sites about 650 meters distant one from the other. One instrument was installed on hard outcropping rock, the other at the surface of an alluvial deposit 20+25 meters thick underlain by a sloping bedrock. Among the numerous records obtained three aftershocks of magnitude about 6 and hypocentral distance within 20 Km, are investigated by comparing maximum accelerations, durations, Arias intensity and Husid ratios. A new numerical tool is proposed which consists of a series of plots of the Husid ratios of low-pass filtered accelerograms. The numerical tool seems to be very promising since it allows to describe at the same time energy, duration and frequencies content, of a given ground motion. Moreover the application to the records simultaneously obtained at the two stations suggests that it would be more appropriate to define an accelerogram according to the type of behavior shown by the site during a certain earthquake rather than according to the local site characteristics like soft or hard