Analogy-based domain analysis approach to software reuse

Domain analysis is an expansion of conventional requirements analysis. Domain analysis can support effective software reuse. However, domain analysis is time consuming and is limited to a particular application area. Analogical approaches to software reuse, on the other hand, often occur across domains. Analogical problem solving is a process of transferring knowledge from a well-understood base domain to a new target problem area. Analogy can facilitate software reuse for poorly understood problems or new application areas. Analogy shares similar concepts with reuse and some analogy theories have been applied to software reuse. However, current research on software analogy often overlooks the importance of analysis for the base domain and does not consider some critical aspects of analogy concepts. Reuse must be based on high quality artifacts, especially reuse across domains. This paper presents an approach to integrate domain analysis and analogy methods. In our view, domain analysis and software analogy have complementary roles. Domain analysis is regarded as a process to identify and supply necessary information for analogical transfer. Software analogy can provide the analyst with similar problems and solutions to reuse previous domain analysis knowledge or artifacts for a new domain. This paper presents case studies to demonstrate the increase of efficiency in applying the approach. Evaluation of the approach from various perspectives is also reported.     

Aligning the economic modeling of software reuse with reuse practices

In contrast to current practices where software reuse is applied recursively and reusable assets are tailored trough parameterization or specialization, existing reuse economic models assume that (i) the cost of reusing a software asset depends on its size and (ii) reusable assets are developed from scratch. The contribution of this paper is that it provides modeling elements and an economic model that is better aligned with current practices. The functioning of the model is illustrated in an example. The example also shows how the model can support practitioners in deciding whether it is economically feasible to apply software reuse recursively.     

Knowledge reuse in manufacturability analysis

This paper describes a set of modelling guidelines for the improved reuse of manufacturing knowledge in decision support systems. The work draws on research into product and manufacturing knowledge models, and uses a case study based on a simplified jet engine combustion chamber casing to illustrate the proposed guidelines. The paper describes three principles of reuse, i.e., the separation of information from knowledge, the separation of product knowledge from manufacturing process knowledge, and the correct classification of manufacturing knowledge. Whilst the first two principles were found to be well established in the research literature, guidance on how to apply classification hierarchies for optimum reuse was found to be insufficient. The guidelines presented in this paper therefore provide improved guidance on how to classify manufacturing knowledge for optimum reuse.     

A multi-level analysis of factors affecting software developers’ intention to reuse software assets: An empirical investigation

Reuse of software assets in application development has held promise but faced challenges. In addressing these challenges, research has focused on organizational- and project-level factors while neglecting grass-root level adoption of reusable assets. Our research investigated factors associated with individual software developers’ intention to reuse software assets and integrated them in TAM. Towards that end, 13 project managers were interviewed and 207 software developers were surveyed in India. Results revealed that the technological-level (infrastructure), and individual-level factors (reuse-related experience and self-efficacy) were major determinants. Implications are discussed.     

The software tools project

A project is described in which the software tools of Kernighan and Plauger1 are implemented on a Burroughs B1700 computer under a non-standard operating system. A command language interpreter similar to that of the UNIX operating system has also been implemented to provide an environment in which the tools may be used. The project was completed by five first-year postgraduate students in the remarkably short time of approximately 12 man-weeks. A translation program for the tools is described, together with some of the associated software required to support them.     

A study of software reuse in NASA legacy systems

Software reuse is regarded as a highly important factor in reducing development overheads for new software projects; however, much of the literature is concerned with cost and labor savings that reuse brings to industrial software development and little is known about the inherent risks associated with reuse, particularly in the case of mission and safety-critical software systems. We present the preliminary findings of a research project geared toward assessing the impact of risk in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) legacy software in flight control systems. We introduce the concept of context variables and the impact they have on reuse within these legacy systems as well as the genealogy classification models, which provide a simple, concise method of mapping reuse between families of software projects. This research was conducted at Global Science and Technology, Inc. under NASA grant number NCC0NNG06GI57G.     

软件复用度量综述

软件复用度量是软件复用技术中不可分割的一部分,在软件复用开发中占据重要地位。软件复用开发与传统的软件开发方式不同,从而影响到软件度量,因此需要新的软件复用度量方法,软件复用度量的研究已经引起学术界的广泛重视。本文是一篇软件复用度量综述,阐述了软件复用对度量的影响以及有关软件复用的度量。     

Software project management anti-patterns

This paper explores the area of bad practices, namely anti-patterns, and their consequences in software project management (SPM). The paper surveys the multitude of anti-patterns that have been reported and documented up to now and stresses the need for tools to formally represent SPM anti-patterns, proposing specific formalisms for such purpose, namely Bayesian Belief Networks, Ontologies and Social Networks. It is also explained how the Web can provide an opportunity for capturing, storing, disseminating and ultimately avoiding SPM anti-patterns. As a consequence, anti-patterns may provide an excellent tool for educating active and future software managers. Finally, conclusions and future research trends are given.     

军用型号项目软件复用成本度量模型

针对军用型号项目软件研制过程中普遍存在的软件复用行为,提出了一种复用成本度量方法,对传统的COCOMO2.0成本度量模型进行了改进,采用改进的功能点法估计软件实际规模,适当调整模型中的评估项,增加了度量系统复用的成本驱动因子及系统通用特性统计项（GSC）,建立了相应的量化评估及DI分级表,形成了军用型号项目软件进度、成本估计模型,使用改进的度量模型对某军用型号项目进行了成本度量,验证了方法的有效性。     

Towards a formal framework for software reuse

It is reasonable to expect that the use of formal methods in software reuse will help improve the practice of this discipline as well as enhance our understanding of its products and processes. We have identified the following technical activities that take place in software reuse as candidates for a formal modeling: representing reusable assets, representing reuse queries, defining matching criteria, defining a storage structure, deriving measures of distance and deriving a calculus of program modification. In this paper we discuss how a simple mathematical model based on set theory and relation theory allows us to capture these activities in a unified, coherent framework.     

Enabling the creation of knowledge about software assets

In most companies two factors play a crucial role: managing the knowledge that is necessary for doing business and managing the hardware and software infrastructure that supports the business processes. Usually, business processes and infrastructure are not optimally aligned.

We investigate how principles from knowledge management can be applied to enable the creation, consolidation, conservation and continuous actualization of knowledge about valuable software systems (“software assets”) that are part of the infrastructure.

Our point of departure is a generic framework for knowledge creation proposed by Von Krogh, Ichijo and Nonaka. We investigate the explicit and tacit knowledge about software assets that may exist in an organization and specialize the framework to obtain a strategy for creating new knowledge about these software assets. By applying this strategy, one can optimize the quality and the flexibility of the software assets while reducing costs.     

Exploring the relationship between software project duration and risk exposure: A cluster analysis

Software projects often fail. Thus it is important to find ways to ensure a successful outcome. One significant area is a better understanding of the relationship between the software project duration and risk exposure, as this helps project managers with pertinent information to be effective in managing risky projects. We addressed this need by adopting a cluster analysis technique to provide managers with insight into effective planning and control of their projects. The results not only revealed that risk exposures associated with user, requirement, planning & control and team risk dimensions were affected by project duration, but also showed how to manage software risks effectively through observing trends in the risk components. Based on our findings, project managers can adopt appropriate attitudes, skills, and practices to deal with risky areas more effectively rather than just identifying those software risks with which project managers should be concerned.     

Solving software project scheduling problems with ant colony optimization

Software project scheduling problem (SPSP) is one of the important and challenging problems faced by the software project managers in the highly competitive software industry. As the problem is becoming an NP-hard problem with the increasing numbers of employees and tasks, only a few algorithms exist and the performance is still not satisfying. To design an effective algorithm for SPSP, this paper proposes an ant colony optimization (ACO) approach which is called ACS-SPSP algorithm. Since a task in software projects involves several employees, in this paper, by splitting tasks and distributing dedications of employees to task nodes we get the construction graph for ACO. Six domain-based heuristics are designed to consider the factors of task efforts, allocated dedications of employees and task importance. Among these heuristic strategies, the heuristic of allocated dedications of employees to other tasks performs well. ACS-SPSP is compared with a genetic algorithm to solve the SPSP on 30 random instances. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is promising and can obtain higher hit rates with more accuracy compared to the previous genetic algorithm solution.     

Facilitating software extension with design patterns and Aspect-Oriented Programming

Software products, especially large applications, need to continuously evolve, in order to adapt to the changing environment and updated requirements. With both the producer and the customer unwilling to replace the existing application with a completely new one, adoption of design constructs and techniques which facilitate the application extension is a major design issue. In the current work we investigate the behavior of an object-oriented software application at a specific extension scenario, following three implementation alternatives with regards to a certain design problem relevant to the extension. The first alternative follows a simplistic solution, the second makes use of a design pattern and the third applies Aspect-Oriented Programming techniques to implement the same pattern. An assessment of the three alternatives is attempted, both on a qualitative and a quantitative level, by identifying the additional design implications needed to perform the extension and evaluating the effect of the extension on several quality attributes of the application.     

软件项目风险管理研究综述

近年来,软件项目风险管理作为新兴的管理理论,得到了国内外大批学者的青睐,并取得了一定的研究成果。首先回顾了软件行业及软件项目风险管理的发展历程,对软件项目风险的基本概念以及重要的软件项目风险管理理论和方法进行了介绍。然后综述了国内外学者近30年来在该领域取得的研究成果,总结出软件项目风险管理的三大研究趋势。并在此基础上提出了未来重点研究方向。     

软件项目风险管理理论与方法研究综述

软件项目风险管理是软件工程的重要分支,也是项目管理和决策研究中的热点问题.为此,简要介绍了软件项目风险管理的相关基本概念,阐述了软件项目风险管理的框架体系和研究方法,并讨论了其各自的优缺点.据此对该学科的研究发展趋势作了展望.     

A design methodology for form-based knowledge reuse and representation

Paper forms are regularly used for collecting and disseminating knowledge in offices; they are a natural way of eliciting requirements of knowledge workers. Many organizations have implemented a groupware system to integrate the organizational knowledge and support knowledge creation. However, design methods for flexible form-based knowledge reuse and representation are limited. We developed a methodology based on the enhanced cognitive fit theory; it utilizes factoring and synthesis principles to manipulate form-based knowledge. The methodology was articulated using the design science research methodology. A prototype embedded methodology was built to support a knowledge worker in knowledge creation and reuse in a high tech firm. The resulting system allowed flexible form-based knowledge creation that was useful for problem solving and exploiting opportunities. Implications and conclusions are discussed.     

Quality,productivity and economic benefits of software reuse: a review of industrial studies

Systematic software reuse is proposed to increase productivity and software quality and lead to economic benefits. Reports of successful software reuse programs in industry have been published. However, there has been little effort to organize the evidence systematically and appraise it. This review aims to assess the effects of software reuse in industrial contexts. Journals and major conferences between 1994 and 2005 were searched to find observational studies and experiments conducted in industry, returning eleven papers of observational type. Systematic software reuse is significantly related to lower problem (defect, fault or error) density in five studies and to decreased effort spent on correcting problems in three studies. The review found evidence for significant gains in apparent productivity in three studies. Other significant benefits of software reuse were reported in single studies or the results were inconsistent. Evidence from industry is sparse and combining results was done by vote-counting. Researchers should pay more attention to using comparable metrics, performing longitudinal studies, and explaining the results and impact on industry. For industry, evaluating reuse of COTS or OSS components, integrating reuse activities in software processes, better data collection and evaluating return on investment are major challenges.

The effects of optimistic and pessimistic biasing on software project status reporting

Anecdotal evidence suggests that project managers (PMs) sometime provide biased status reports to management. In our research project we surveyed PMs to explore possible motivations for bias, the frequency with which bias occurs, and the strength of the bias typically applied. We found that status reports were biased 60% of the time and that the bias was twice as likely to be optimistic as pessimistic. By applying these results to an information-theoretic model, we estimated that only about 10–15% of biased project status reports were, in fact, accurate and these occurred only when pessimistic bias offset project management status errors. There appeared to be no significant difference in the type or frequency of bias applied to high-risk versus low-risk projects. Our work should provide a better understanding of software project status reporting.