Assessing software product line potential: an exploratory industrial case study

Corporate organizations sometimes offer similar software products in certain domains due to former company mergers or due to the complexity of the organization. The functional overlap of such products is an opportunity for future systematic reuse to reduce software development and maintenance costs. Therefore, we have tailored existing domain analysis methods to our organization to identify commonalities and variabilities among such products and to assess the potential for software product line (SPL) approaches. As an exploratory case study, we report on our experiences and lessons learned from conducting the domain analysis in four application cases with large-scale software products. We learned that the outcome of a domain analysis was often a smaller integration scenario instead of an SPL and that business case calculations were less relevant for the stakeholders and managers from the business units during this phase. We also learned that architecture reconstruction using a simple block diagram notation aids domain analysis and that large parts of our approach were reusable across application cases.     

CAPP动态应用环境分析

CAPP动态应用环境是制约CAPP理论技术研究与应用推广的根本因素,分析CAPP动态应用环境就是分析CAPP动态应用环境的含义、组成及其对CAPP应用系统功能及系统开发过程的影响。作为CAPP域分析的主要部分,CAPP动态应用环境分析对建立基于域模型的CAPP特定域软件体系结构、识别并开发域内通用可重用构件有着重要的作用。     

基于构件的面向项目评审领域应用框架技术研究

软件复用是在软件开发过程中避免重复劳动的解决方案,但要设计在许多领域都通用的可复用业务组件是很困难的,而面向领域的复用是在一个特定应用领域中实现复用;因此,设计大粒度复用的应用框架对于提高软件的生产率和软件质量具有重要的意义;文中以软件复用为出发点,基于构件化软件的开发思路,对软件的构件技术、领域工程、面向领域的应用框架技术进行了深入的研究,提出了基于需求驱动的面向领域应用框架的开发方法,并详细说明了该方法在项目评审领域的应用.     

On "The Right" Software

Boehm[13,37] is credited to have formulated the "Two Rights" of software: the problem of getting the right software and the problem of getting the software right. The development processes needed to achieve software that is right, to us, requires that a proper study of the application domain be done before a serious requirements study is attempted; and to achieve the right software, that is, software that is correct, to us, requires that a proper engineering degree of formalism be applied to the entire development process; that is, that we re-interpret classical development processes[14]. We shall in this paper focus only on the issue of obtaining the right software. In this paper talk we shall outline what we mean by a proper study of the application domain and how it influences the requirements development.     

Case-Based Knowledge Management Tools for Software Development

Modern software development is a knowledge-intensive activity. The proliferation of development tools, rapidly changing technology, and increasing complexity and diversity of application domains all increase the cognitive burden placed on software developers. General purpose programming languages and CASE tools offer little relief from these problems. Knowledge management tools are needed that can effectively capture and disseminate software development knowledge that applies to the domain-specific needs of an organization. This knowledge is not static, but evolves with technology and the changing needs of the organizations development practices, customer base, and business milieu.This paper presents an infrastructure that supports evolving knowledge through case-based techniques and domain analysis methods that capture emerging knowledge and synthesize it into generally applicable forms. The approach is less concerned with the veracity of knowledge in its repository than evolving the knowledge toward answers to problems that fit the organizations technical and business context. Implications of this approach go beyond supporting software development to other knowledge-intensive professions where knowledge management tools can be used to support an organizational memory.     

面向大规模定制的软件开发模式

在领域工程、基于构件的软件工程和并行工程的基础上，提出了面向大规模定制的软件开发模式。该模式以大规模开发标准软件的效益满足用户的个性化需求。介绍了面向大规模定制的软件开发过程，面向大规模定制的软件产品族体系结构，以及面向大模型定制软件开发的产品集成过程模型。最后介绍了一种面向大规模定制的敏捷软件开发组织。     

A method for identification of automation potential through modelling of engineering processes and quantification of information waste

Context: Automation of engineering processes is increasingly prevalent in multiple lifecycle phases such as design, manufacturing and service support. Though methodological and technological support for developing these systems has been achieved to a relatively high degree, means to provide objective identification and justification of automation opportunities are currently lacking. Objective: In this paper, a method for the identification of automation opportunities is introduced. Method: This method relies on the quantification of information waste in existing engineering processes. Results and Conclusions: A detailed case study application in the service engineering domain shows the feasibility and applicability of the developed method. Summaries of two other case studies are provided to highlight the generalizability to engineering processes from other lifecycle domains (design; production).     

基于构件的地理工作流框架:一个方法学的探讨

软件框架为特定领域的软件复用带来了便利.众所周知,软件框架开发的难度要大于开发一个普通可复用构件.采用支持黑盒复用的基于构件的软件框架概念,探讨了地理工作流框架的开发过程.一个地理工作流应用是地理信息领域的工作流管理系统,它可以通过复用地理工作流框架实现.从方法学的角度看,为了开发地理工作流框架,需要进行以下活动:领域分析、领域设计、框架设计和实现.其输出分别是识别了领域变化性的领域模型、领域特定的软件体系结构(DSSA)、软件框架产品.在地理工作流的上下文中,首先对领域变化性进行了识别和分类,包括空间数据类型、空间数据管理、空间操作、过程和空间数据表现5个方面的变化性,它们可以组织成树状视图.然后,为了处理上述变化性,设计了DSSA和框架的软件体系结构,其中前者是后者的模板,而框架体系结构采用HMB风格.最后,对地理工作流框架构件的开发以及框架复用进行了简单描述.与其他地理工作流系统相比,其优势在于由于框架扩展能力带来的灵活性.     

基于构件开发的BOSC的研究与应用

从基于构件的软件开发中所关注的应用领域和体系结构这两大软件特征出发,构造一种基于构件开发的软件产品结构成分表(BOSC),提出面向特征BOSC的生成算法,为基于构件的软件开发提供软件构件复用管理方法。在整个软件生命周期中,BOSC完整地反映了软件产品组成成分的情况,支持软件产品维护和升级。实践表明BOSC能够有效提高开发效率和管理水平。     

Modeling application domains

Modeling the interactions among the objects in an application domain and the activities in the domain are necessary extensions of modeling the structure and behaviour of objects in the domain. Object models capture the structure and behaviour of components in the application domains. Interaction models describe how the components in the domain interact to realize the activities in the domain. Activity models are used to describe the functionality of the domain. The integration of object, interaction and activity models is essential for producing complete domain models which we refer to as Component-Interaction-Activity (CIA) models. The CIA model of a domain simplifies the development of applications in that domain because it makes extensive reuse of the elements of the domain possible. Concepts for developing the CIA models of application domains are described. A Domain Modeling Language (DML) which provides constructs for expressing the concepts in CIA models is introduced. The DML provides: (i) a class construct to define components, (ii) rule, trigger, event and relationship constructs to define interactions among components, and (iii) process and task constructs to define the activities in the domain. A Domain Modeling Tool which provides a graphic interface to DML and makes the CIA domain models expressed in DML executable is introduced. An example of using CIA models in developing applications is presented.     

域分析:为软件重用产生有用的模型

软件重用被视为解决软件危机,提高软件生产率和质量的有效途径,近年来的软件重用研究的结果表明,基于体系结构,物定域的重用能够有很大的改进。     

FORM: A feature-;oriented reuse method with domain-;specific reference architectures

Systematic discovery and exploitation of commonality across related software systems is a fundamental technical requirement for achieving successful software reuse. By examining a class/family of related systems and the commonality underlying those systems, it is possible to obtain a set of reference models, i.e., software architectures and components needed for implementing applications in the class. FORM (Feature-;Oriented Reuse Method) supports development of such reusable architectures and components (through a process called the “domain engineering”) and development of applications using the domain artifacts produced from the domain engineering. FORM starts with an analysis of commonality among applications in a particular domain in terms of services, operating environments, domain technologies, and implementation techniques. The model constructed during the analysis is called a “feature” model, and it captures commonality as an AND/OR graph, where AND nodes indicate mandatory features and OR nodes indicate alternative features selectable for different applications. Then, this model is used to define parameterized reference architectures and appropriate reusable components instantiatable during application development. Architectures are defined from three different viewpoints (subsystem, process, and module) and have intimate association with the features. The subsystem architecture is used to package service features and allocate them to different computers in a distributed environment. Each subsystem is further decomposed into processes considering the operating environment features. Modules are defined based on the features on domain technology and implementation techniques. These architecture models that represent an architecture at different levels of abstraction are derived from the feature hierarchy captured in the feature model. Modules serve as basis for creating reusable components, and their specification defines how they are integrated into the application (e.g., as-;is integration of pre-;coded component, instantiation of parameterized templates, and filling-;in skeletal codes). Our experiences have shown that for the electronic bulletin board and the private branch exchange (PBX) domains, “features” make up for a common domain language and the main communication medium among application users and developers. Thus, the feature model well represents a “decision space” of software development, and is a good starting point for identifying candidate reusable components.     

An approach for the systematic development of domain‐specific languages

Building tailored software systems for a particular application domain is a complex task. For this reason, domain‐specific languages (DSLs) receive a constantly growing attention in recent years. So far the main focus of DSL research is on case studies and experience reports for the development of individual DSLs, design approaches and implementation techniques for DSLs, and the integration of DSLs with other software development approaches on a technical level. In this paper, we identify and describe the different activities that we conduct when engineering a DSL, and describe how these activities can be combined in order to define a tailored DSL engineering process. Our research results are based on the experiences we gained from multiple different DSL development projects and prototyping experiments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A functional size measurement method for object-oriented conceptual schemas: design and evaluation issues

Functional Size Measurement (FSM) methods are intended to measure the size of software by quantifying the functional user requirements of the software. The capability to accurately quantify the size of software in an early stage of the development lifecycle is critical to software project managers for evaluating risks, developing project estimates and having early project indicators. In this paper, we present OO-Method Function Points (OOmFP), which is a new FSM method for object-oriented systems that is based on measuring conceptual schemas. OOmFP is presented following the steps of a process model for software measurement. Using this process model, we present the design of the measurement method, its application in a case study, and the analysis of different evaluation types that can be carried out to validate the method and to verify its application and results.     

非成熟领域软件复用过程模型

将一个软件企业或开发团队实现有组织的软件复用分为4个阶段,针对可复用资源积累阶段的特点,提出了非成熟领域软件复用过程模型,应用系统分析设计与领域分析适当结合,经数次迭代,逐步积累领域知识,使面向提交的应用系统开发平滑过渡到基于复用地开发,使该领域尽快成熟.该过程模型还考虑了应用系统开发时效和软件开发团队运营成本问题,此阶段软件复用不强调领域工程,应用系统开发是面向提交的,但需要使用基于构件的软件开发.     

基于软件构件的表面缺陷检测软件开发

针对表面缺陷检测领域软件开发中存在的问题,本文分析了检测过程中存在的共性技术问题,按照软件工程的思想,建立了基于构件的表面缺陷检测系统软件开发模型,实现了表面缺陷检测领域构件的抽取及开发,解决了该类软件开发中的复用问题。     

MND-SCEMP: an empirical study of a software cost estimation modeling process in the defense domain

The primary focus of weapon systems research and development has moved from a hardware base to a software base and the cost of software development is increasing gradually. An accurate estimation of the cost of software development is now a very important task in the defense domain. However, existing models and tools for software cost estimation are not suitable for the defense domain due to problems of accuracy. Thus, it is necessary to develop cost estimation models that are appropriate to specific domains. Furthermore, most studies of methodology development are aligned with generic methodologies that do not consider the pertinent factors to specific domains, whereas new methodologies should reflect specific domains. In this study, we apply two generic methodologies to the development of a software cost estimation model, before suggesting an integrated modeling process specifically for the national defense domain. To validate our proposed modeling process, we performed an empirical study of 113 software development projects on weapon systems in Korea. A software cost estimation model was developed by applying the proposed modeling process. The MMRE value of this model was 0.566 while the accuracy was appropriate for use. We conclude that the modeling process and software cost estimation model developed in this study is suitable for estimating resource requirements during weapon system development in South Korea’s national defense domain. This modeling process and model may facilitate more accurate resource estimation by project planners, which will lead to more successful project execution.     

业务应用软件框架的一种分析方法

为了开发成熟的、可重用的软件框架和组件,提倡尽量地抽出和组入软件模式.讨论了基于软件模式的面向对象软件开发方法.在分析业务应用领域需求规格的基础上,给出了软件框架的分析方法和基本角色模型,抽出了框架的体系结构分析模式、基本角色类及其结构并设计了数据存取的"抽象工厂”模式.该方法适用于应用框架和软组件的开发.     

基于产品线体系结构的软件工程过程模型研究

在借鉴现代工业的组织体系、管理规范、生产流程的基础上,针对基于软件产品线体系结构的软件工程方法和开发过程进行了系统研究,提出了基于产品线体系结构而实现软件工程化生产的N-生命周期模型.该模型的建立,对研究基于软件产品线体系结构的集成化软件工程环境,进而实现软件产品的工业化生产是非常有益且重要的.     

Building more secure software with improved development processes

The author draws on experiences gained as a member of Microsoft's central security team to outline some basic best practices for the software development process. These practices benefitted Microsoft products released since the inception of its Trustworthy Computing initiative in 2002. The points are a subset of the security development lifecycle process implemented at Microsoft.