Muhammad Ali Babar

Bio: Muhammad Ali Babar is an academic researcher from University of Adelaide. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software architecture & Software development. The author has an hindex of 46, co-authored 297 publications receiving 8320 citations. Previous affiliations of Muhammad Ali Babar include IT University of Copenhagen & Cooperative Research Centre.

Identifying relevant studies in software engineering

Abstract: Context: Systematic literature review (SLR) has become an important research methodology in software engineering since the introduction of evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) in 2004. One critical step in applying this methodology is to design and execute appropriate and effective search strategy. This is a time-consuming and error-prone step, which needs to be carefully planned and implemented. There is an apparent need for a systematic approach to designing, executing, and evaluating a suitable search strategy for optimally retrieving the target literature from digital libraries. Objective: The main objective of the research reported in this paper is to improve the search step of undertaking SLRs in software engineering (SE) by devising and evaluating systematic and practical approaches to identifying relevant studies in SE. Method: We have systematically selected and analytically studied a large number of papers (SLRs) to understand the state-of-the-practice of search strategies in EBSE. Having identified the limitations of the current ad-hoc nature of search strategies used by SE researchers for SLRs, we have devised a systematic and evidence-based approach to developing and executing optimal search strategies in SLRs. The proposed approach incorporates the concept of 'quasi-gold standard' (QGS), which consists of collection of known studies, and corresponding 'quasi-sensitivity' into the search process for evaluating search performance. Results: We conducted two participant-observer case studies to demonstrate and evaluate the adoption of the proposed QGS-based systematic search approach in support of SLRs in SE research. Conclusion: We report their findings based on the case studies that the approach is able to improve the rigor of search process in an SLR, as well as it can serve as a supplement to the guidelines for SLRs in EBSE. We plan to further evaluate the proposed approach using a series of case studies on varying research topics in SE.

Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment: A Systematic Review on Approaches, Tools, Challenges and Practices

Abstract: Continuous practices, i.e., continuous integration, delivery, and deployment, are the software development industry practices that enable organizations to frequently and reliably release new features and products. With the increasing interest in the literature on continuous practices, it is important to systematically review and synthesize the approaches, tools, challenges, and practices reported for adopting and implementing continuous practices. This paper aimed at systematically reviewing the state of the art of continuous practices to classify approaches and tools, identify challenges and practices in this regard, and identify the gaps for future research. We used the systematic literature review method for reviewing the peer-reviewed papers on continuous practices published between 2004 and June 1, 2016. We applied the thematic analysis method for analyzing the data extracted from reviewing 69 papers selected using predefined criteria. We have identified 30 approaches and associated tools, which facilitate the implementation of continuous practices in the following ways: 1) reducing build and test time in continuous integration (CI); 2) increasing visibility and awareness on build and test results in CI; 3) supporting (semi-) automated continuous testing; 4) detecting violations, flaws, and faults in CI; 5) addressing security and scalability issues in deployment pipeline; and 6) improving dependability and reliability of deployment process. We have also determined a list of critical factors, such as testing (effort and time), team awareness and transparency, good design principles, customer, highly skilled and motivated team, application domain, and appropriate infrastructure that should be carefully considered when introducing continuous practices in a given organization. The majority of the reviewed papers were validation (34.7%) and evaluation (36.2%) research types. This paper also reveals that continuous practices have been successfully applied to both greenfield and maintenance projects. Continuous practices have become an important area of software engineering research and practice. While the reported approaches, tools, and practices are addressing a wide range of challenges, there are several challenges and gaps, which require future research work for improving the capturing and reporting of contextual information in the studies reporting different aspects of continuous practices; gaining a deep understanding of how software-intensive systems should be (re-) architected to support continuous practices; and addressing the lack of knowledge and tools for engineering processes of designing and running secure deployment pipelines.

Using Scrum in Global Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract: There is a growing interest in applying agile practices in Global Software Development (GSD) projects. The literature on using Scrum, one of the most popular agile approaches, in distributed development projects has steadily been growing. However, there has not been any effort to systematically select, review, and synthesize the literature on this topic. We have conducted a systematic literature review of the primary studies that report using Scrum practices in GSD projects. Our search strategy identified 366 papers, of which 20 were identified as primary papers relevant to our research. We extracted data from these papers to identify various challenges of using Scrum in GSD. Current strategies to deal with the identified challenges have also been extracted. This paper presents the review’s findings that are expected to help researchers and practitioners to understand the challenges involved in using Scrum for GSD projects and the strategies available to deal with them.

Variability management in software product lines: a systematic review

Abstract: Variability Management (VM) in Software Product Line (SPL) is a key activity that usually affects the degree to which a SPL is successful. SPL community has spent huge amount of resources on developing various approaches to dealing with variability related challenges over the last decade. To provide an overview of different aspects of the proposed VM approaches, we carried out a systematic literature review of the papers reporting VM in SPL. This paper presents and discusses the findings from this systematic literature review. The results reveal the chronological backgrounds of various approaches over the history of VM research, and summarize the key issues that drove the evolution of different approaches. This study has also identified several gaps that need to be filled by future efforts in this line of research.

A systematic review of evaluation of variability management approaches in software product lines

Abstract: ContextVariability management (VM) is one of the most important activities of software product-line engineering (SPLE), which intends to develop software-intensive systems using platforms and mass customization. VM encompasses the activities of eliciting and representing variability in software artefacts, establishing and managing dependencies among different variabilities, and supporting the exploitation of the variabilities for building and evolving a family of software systems. Software product line (SPL) community has allocated huge amount of effort to develop various approaches to dealing with variability related challenges during the last two decade. Several dozens of VM approaches have been reported. However, there has been no systematic effort to study how the reported VM approaches have been evaluated. ObjectiveThe objectives of this research are to review the status of evaluation of reported VM approaches and to synthesize the available evidence about the effects of the reported approaches. MethodWe carried out a systematic literature review of the VM approaches in SPLE reported from 1990s until December 2007. ResultsWe selected 97 papers according to our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected papers appeared in 56 publication venues. We found that only a small number of the reviewed approaches had been evaluated using rigorous scientific methods. A detailed investigation of the reviewed studies employing empirical research methods revealed significant quality deficiencies in various aspects of the used quality assessment criteria. The synthesis of the available evidence showed that all studies, except one, reported only positive effects. ConclusionThe findings from this systematic review show that a large majority of the reported VM approaches have not been sufficiently evaluated using scientifically rigorous methods. The available evidence is sparse and the quality of the presented evidence is quite low. The findings highlight the areas in need of improvement, i.e., rigorous evaluation of VM approaches. However, the reported evidence is quite consistent across different studies. That means the proposed approaches may be very beneficial when they are applied properly in appropriate situations. Hence, it can be concluded that further investigations need to pay more attention to the contexts under which different approaches can be more beneficial.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company

Abstract: How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself withthe master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.