Agent-based framework for integrated facility engineering

An agent-based framework for the development of integrated facility engineering environments in support of collaborative design is introduced. This framework aims at integrating design software by allowing better software interoperability. Within their framework, design agents represent various existing design and planning systems that communicate their design information and knowledge partially and incrementally using the Agent Communication Language (ACL). ACL is a formal language proposed as a communication standard for disparate software. It is based on a logic-based language called Knowledge Interchange Format (KIF) and a message protocol called Knowledge Query Manipulation Language (KQML). Design agents are linked and their communication of design information is coordinated via system programs called facilitators in a federation architecture. The federation architecture specifies the way design agents and facilitators communicate in an integrated software environment. In concert with pursuing fundamental research concepts, we have been developing an integrated design software environment that spans different phases of the facility life cycle. This environment serves to demonstrate the primary aspects of this research methodology. In this paper, we first discuss the integration problem and review related research projects. We then present the major aspects of agent-based software engineering methodology and its application to integrated facility engineering. A highlight of the current integrated design environment development is given to illustrate the advantages of this approach. Finally, we summarize and discuss some of the important research issues in light of previous research.     

An empirical study on the implementation and evaluation of a goal-driven software development risk management model

ContextBuilding a quality software product in the shortest possible time to satisfy the global market demand gives an enterprise a competitive advantage. However, uncertainties and risks exist at every stage of a software development project. These can have an extremely high influence on the success of the final software product. Early risk management practice is effective to manage such risks and contributes effectively towards the project success.ObjectiveDespite risk management approaches, a detailed guideline that explains where to integrate risk management activities into the project is still missing. Little effort has been directed towards the evaluation of the overall impact of a risk management method. We present a Goal-driven Software Development Risk Management Model (GSRM) and its explicit integration into the requirements engineering phase and an empirical investigation result of applying GSRM into a project.MethodWe combine the case study method with action research so that the results from the case study directly contribute to manage the studied project risks and to identify ways to improve the proposed methodology. The data is collected from multiple sources and analysed both in a qualitative and quantitative way.ResultsWhen risk factors are beyond the control of the project manager and project environment, it is difficult to control these risks. The project scope affects all the dimensions of risk. GSRM is a reasonable risk management method that can be employed in an industrial context. The study results have been compared against other study results in order to generalise findings and identify contextual factors.ConclusionA formal early stage risk management practice provides early warning related to the problems that exists in a project, and it contributes to the overall project success. It is not necessary to always consider budget and schedule constraints as top priority. There exist issues such as requirements, change management, and user satisfaction which can influence these constraints.     

Object-management machines: Concept and implementation

The software development process deals with a wide variety of documents. For the preparation of these documents, as well as for their maintenance, appropriate data management support is requested, resulting in the coexistence of multiple object management systems within a single, advanced software development environment. In order to homogenize data management in software development environments we present the object management machine (OMM) concept as an integration framework for preexisting data management systems. An object management machine enables the creation of uniform access patterns to different data management systems, including the query interface and transaction processing. The concept is being developed in the framework of the EUREKA project ESF (EUREKA Software Factory)¹. To make it operational we demonstrate the suitability of the MUSE multidatabase integrator as an implementation framework for the Object Management Machine concept.     

A model-driven process for the modernization of component-based systems

Software modernization is critical for organizations that need cost-effective solutions to deal with the rapid obsolescence of software and the increasing demand for new functionality. This paper presents the XIRUP modernization methodology, which proposes a highly iterative process, structured into four phases: preliminary evaluation, understanding, building and migration. This modernization process is feature-driven, component-based, focused on the early elicitation of key information, and relies on a model-driven approach with extensive use of experience from the previous projects. XIRUP has been defined in the European IST project MOMOCS, which has also built a suite of support tools. This paper introduces the process using a case study that illustrates its activities, related tools and results. The discussion highlights the specific characteristics of modernization projects and how a customized methodology can take advantage of them.     

敏捷方法在软件项目开发中的实践

目前很多企业内中小型软件项目面临开发时间紧迫、人手不足、需求不断变化的困难,传统重量级的软件开发方法无法应对这样的挑战.敏捷方法是基于实践的软件开发方法学,为解决这类轻量级项目管理和开发所碰到的问题提供了新的思路.通过分析敏捷方法的主要目标、观点和原则,并结合一个实际的管理信息系统项目开发,从项目计划、项目文档、重构的改进和项目维护的4个方面探讨了敏捷方法的实践应用.实践证明,采用敏捷方法的观点和原则进行必要的改进,能取得项目开发的成功.     

A methodology and notation for compiler front end design

A methodology and associated notation for designing compiler front ends, and in particular the interface between the parser and the semantic routines, is described. The methodology leads to a clean, easy to understand, documentable design. The notation is similar to an attribute grammar, but its purpose is to document the first pass of a specific compiler, rather than to describe the semantics of a language. It is designed to be accessible to non-specialists, easy to learn, and natural. It can be used with or without software support. The notation was used during the development of a large compiler, and to assist in the transfer of the compiler to the group that will maintain it. Experience with the notation indicates that it meets its goals.     

一个基于属性文法的通信协议形式描述语言及协议开发环境

通信协议是网络技术的核心。由于异质构环境中网络协议固有的复杂性,因此需要研制一磁建立在严格数学模型基础这之上的协议开发方法和集成工具环境,以降低协议开发难度,提高协议开发效率。本文旨在探索一种用于协议形式描述和工程开发的扩展属性文法,重点研究了设计属性文法描述语言的原理及结构特点等,并通过一个完整例子说明如何使用我们所设计的属性文法描述语言Ｌ＿ＰＳＡＧ定义一个协议,然后给出一个基于属性文法的协议设     

An integrated verification and testing environment

A verification and testing environment that includes static analysis, symbolic execution, and dynamic analysis capabilities is presented. Tool integration and co-operation are promoted through use of an intermediate program representation and a system data manager. A substantial user interface aids application of the tools. Their use is guided by a verification and testing methodology on which the system's design is based. The environment has been engineered to support the production of flight control software written in HAL/S. The environment itself is written in Pascal and is designed to be portable. Several development experiences are described. The environment demonstrates that a strong, unified verification and testing environment can be built; it serves as a basis for future investigations.     

配置管理在软件开发项目中的运用

随着软件开发规模扩大,软件项目面临着较大的失败风险。为改变这种状况,国内软件公司逐步重视项目管理,尤其在软件开发项 目中运用配置管理,将软件开发变成一个可控的过程,从而降低软件开发所面临的风险。作者结合自身的工作经验,将配置管理在软件开发 项目中的具体运用作了全面介绍。     

项目管理在软件开发中的有效应用

随着信息化的飞速发展,在软件企业中,项目管理对于开发应用软件是一个行之有效的方法,并日益受到重视。本文主要通过对项目管理在软件开发中的具体应用,以及应用的成因、用时间段来做项目的问题及解决方案进行了分析和论述。     

Software development team flexibility antecedents

The ability to respond to changes in the environment during the development of software is crucial in achieving a quality product. Putting the project team together to achieve the ability to react effectively requires an understanding of the nature of flexibility and capabilities that might promote the ability to respond to changing requirements and conditions. Based on dynamic capability theory, we build a model of software quality that is dependent on the flexibility of the team, with the flexibility of the team dependent on reactive and anticipatory capabilities of the team members. A questionnaire administered to 119 software development team members indicates strong linkages from reactive capabilities and mixed results for anticipatory capabilities to team flexibility. Both flexibility components of a comprehensive response and efficient response to changes are critical in achieving quality software. The items comprising the capabilities can serve to guide management in building flexible development teams.     

Incremental attribute evaluation through recursive procedures

Incremental semantic analysis in a programming environment based on Attribute Grammars is performed by an Incremental Attribute Evaluator (IAE). Current IAEs are either table-driven or make extensive use of graph structures to schedule reevaluation of attributes. A method of compiling an Ordered Attribute Grammar into mutually recursive procedures is proposed. These procedures form an optimal time Incremental Attribute Evaluator for the attribute grammar, which does not require any graphs or tables.     

Choquet integral based aggregation approach to software development risk assessment

Software is a crucial component of today’s business environment, and a superior risk management effort is required to adeptly steer software development projects. Software development risks are inherently dependent, in other words, mutually positive or negative assessments of some risks can influence the decision to accept or reject a project. This fact cannot be modeled with a traditional best compromise seeking method. Aggregation operations based on the family of fuzzy integrals include many operators and thus can express a variety of decision maker behaviors. This study proposes an integrated multi-criteria evaluation methodology for software development experts and managers to better enable them to position their projects in terms of the associated risks. The method relies on a special fuzzy operator, namely a two-additive Choquet integral that enables modeling various effects of importance and interactions among risks. The potential of the proposed methodology is exposed through a case study conducted in a Turkish software company.     

基于LabVIEW的通用且可定制的数据采集处理软件设计

数据采集系统可将外界模拟信号转换成数字信号并输入计算机,随后在计算机上进行后续数字信号处理[1]。在实际应用中,待采集的模拟信号一般来自各类物理场传感器,针对不同的应用场景、不同的传感器、不同的项目需求,一般需要定制化开发数据采集系统。得益于NI(National Instruments,美国国家仪器)公司开发的通用化硬件采集设备,用户在数据采集项目开发时只需着重考虑软件部分的设计工作,本文提出一种基于LabVIEW编程语言的通用且可定制的数据采集处理软件设计方法,即考虑可用于多个数据采集项目的通用性,又满足不同项目的定制化需求,注重软件复用性,提高项目开发效率。     

软件项目风险管理综述

风险在软件开发过程中无处不在,如何控制软件项目中出现的各种风险一直是软件工程领域研究的主要问题之一软件开发过程方法对控制软件风险有积极的作用,RUP、CMM等方法对软件项目风险有着良好的控制能力很多学者都使用不同的方法或技术对软件项目风险进行分析或管理。     

信息交流模式对软件开发的影响——软件项目管理的信息交流探索

软件开发是一项高度知识密集型的创造活动,在这个过程中信息交流扮演了极其重要的角色.信息交流模式对软件开发效率、项目管理和开发工具的发展进化有着深刻的影响.提出信息交流的三个特征模式,并在共享库的基础上论证自然损耗的强信息交流模式对软件开发的积极作用和影响.     

Design of an intelligent interface for software planning

Software project planning and resource estimation problems are characterized by a large number of complex and dynamic parameters whose relationships continuously evolve with changes in the project environment. For the analysis of the software project planning task, four types of basic knowledge were distinguished. The objectives of the project were determined by the cognitive concepts that underlie the planning and estimation task and that could be implemented in an intelligent interface model. The prototype model was developed on a Symbolics workstation with the KEE environment.     

Software development methods and usability: Perspectives from a survey in the software industry in Norway

This paper investigates the relationship between software development methodologies and usability. The point of departure is the assumption that two important disciplines in software development, one of software development methods (SDMs) and one of usability work, are not integrated in industrial software projects.

Building on previous research we investigate two questions; (1) Will software companies generally acknowledge the importance of usability, but not prioritise it in industrial projects? and (2) To what degree are software development methods and usability perceived by practitioners as being integrated? To this end a survey in the Norwegian IT industry was conducted. From a sample of 259 companies we received responses from 78 companies.

In response to our first research question, our findings show that although there is a positive bias towards usability, the importance of usability testing is perceived to be much less than that of usability requirements. Given the strong time and cost pressures associated with the software industry, we believe that these results highlight that there is a gap between intention and reality. Regarding our second research question our survey revealed that companies perceive usability and software development methods to be integrated. This is in contrast to earlier research, which, somewhat pessimistically, has argued for the existence of two different cultures, one of software development and one of usability. The findings give hope for the future, in particular because the general use of system development methods are pragmatic and adaptable.     

A requirements engineering environment within a tightly integrated SDE

This paper describes the outside functionality of an RE environment within an integrated software development environment. Furthermore, an integrator tool for the transition to software system architecture modelling is presented. The tools discussed are editors, analysers, executors, monitors, and integration tools of different characteristics for horizontal integration (within RE) and vertical integration (to architecture modelling). All tools are tightly integrated and work incrementally, therefore allowing different forms of construction and modification processes and giving substantial support.