Showing papers in "Journal of Software: Evolution and Process in 2019"
TL;DR: A framework is provided that could help GSD organizations address the problems related to RCM in a GSD environment and is intended to provide a clear understanding of the RCM process and its challenges in the context of both types of G SD organizations.
Abstract: The phenomenon of global software development (GSD) has been adopted by a majority of the software development firms to achieve the significant benefits it offers. However, there are many ...
43 citations
TL;DR: The performed analysis reveals that artificial neural network (ANN) as ML model, NASA as dataset, and mean magnitude of relative error (MMRE) as accuracy measure are widely used in the selected studies.
Abstract: Machine learning (ML) techniques have been widely investigated for building prediction models, able to estimate software development effort as well as to improve the accuracy of other esti...
42 citations
TL;DR: The main objective of this research is to show that Lean and Agile SPI approaches can be pursued depending on the target environment, both in traditional and in agile organizations.
Abstract: The culture of traditional organizations favors firmly established processes and standardization. Therefore, the adoption of Agile and Lean approaches in these organizations is a challenging issue. This paper presents an overview and outlook of the most well‐known Agile and Lean approaches in order to identify which kind of continuous software process improvement (SPI) is inherent in these approaches. The main objective of this research is to show that Lean and Agile SPI approaches can be pursued depending on the target environment, both in traditional and in agile organizations.
36 citations
TL;DR: The core objective of this research work is to develop a global software engineering process improvement model (GSEPIM) to assess and improve software process activities in a GSD environment.
Abstract: Software development firms have begun adopting the practice of global software development (GSD). The main reason for the shift toward globalization is the various benefits received by software development firms. However, there are several issues faced by GSD organizations, particularly those associated with software process improvement (SPI). It has been noticed that a formal process improvement approach could assist in successfully executing development activities in GSD. The core objective of this research work is to develop a global software engineering process improvement model (GSEPIM) to assess and improve software process activities in a GSD environment. The proposed model will be developed based on existing models in other domains, an empirical study conducted with GSD practitioners, and an understanding of critical success factors and challenges of SPI. In this study, the first step in the development of GSEPIM is completed by identifying the challenges of SPI in GSD and presenting a solution in the form of a robust framework.
33 citations
TL;DR: A generic model of technical lag is formalised, a concept that quantifies to which extent a deployed collection of components is outdated, with respect to the ideal deployment, for the npm package manager.
Abstract: Reusable Open Source Software (OSS) components for major programming languages are available in package repositories. Developers rely on package management tools to automate deployments, s...
32 citations
TL;DR: The analysis of 44 selected papers found nine pieces of metadata that characterized crowdsourced user feedback and that were employed in seven specific RE activities, and found that the published research has a strong focus on crowd‐generated comments to be used for RE purposes, rather than employing application logs or usage‐generated data.
Abstract: Crowdsourcing is an appealing concept for achieving good enough requirements and just‐in‐time requirements engineering (RE). A promising form of crowdsourcing in RE is the use of feedback ...
28 citations
TL;DR: This paper built three change prediction models based on different predictors, and showed how ensemble methods and in particular Random Forest provide a significant improvement of more than 10% in terms of F measure.
Abstract: Predicting the areas of the source code having a higher likelihood to change in the future represents an important activity to allow developers to plan preventive maintenance operations. F...
26 citations
TL;DR: A white‐box approach to predict performance indicators of running process instances is proposed to first predict the performance indicator at thelevel of activities and then to aggregate these predictions at the level of a process instance by means of flow analysis techniques, in the context of predicting the remaining cycle time of ongoing process instances.
Abstract: Predictive business process monitoring methods exploit historical process execution logs to provide predictions about running instances of a process. These predictions enable process worke...
26 citations
TL;DR: This research summarizes in this research the recent history of software reuse, and it reports new research areas and forms of reuse according to current needs in industry and application domains, as well as promising research trends for the upcoming years.
Abstract: Much has been investigated about software reuse since the software crisis. The development of software reuse methods, implementation techniques, and cost models has resulted in a significa...
25 citations
TL;DR: There is a need for a transformation model that supports the agile transformation without harming the benefits of software product lines.
Abstract: Almost all companies struggle with software systems that are getting increasingly complex. Therefore, in particular large companies often use software product lines, which provide an effic...
23 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that knowing a priori the branch coverage that can be achieved with test‐data generation tools can help developers into taking informed decision about issues and it is investigated the possibility to use source‐code metrics to predict the coverage achieved by test‐ data generation tools.
Abstract: This is the peer reviewed version which has been published in final form at [DOI]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
TL;DR: This paper focuses on the blog post as a type of grey literature and investigates the use of such material in software practice to investigate software practice.
Abstract: Background An emerging body of research is using grey literature to investigate software practice. One frequently occurring type of grey literature is the blog post. Whilst there are prospective benefits to using grey literature and blog posts to investigate software practice, there are also concerns about the quality of such material. Objectives To identify and describe the benefits and challenges to using blog‐like content to investigate software practice, and to scope directions for further research. Methods We conduct a review of previous research, mainly within software engineering, to identify benefits, challenges, and directions and use that review to complement our experiences of using blog posts in research. Results and Conclusion We identify and organise benefits and challenges of using blog‐like documents in software engineering research. We develop a definition of the type of blog‐like document that should be of (more) value to software engineering researchers. We identify and scope several directions in which to progress research into and with blog‐like documents. We discuss similarities and differences in secondary and primary studies that use blog‐like documents and similarities and differences between the use of blog‐like documents and the use of already established research methods, eg, interview and survey.
TL;DR: A unified approach to model the reliability growth of software with imperfect debugging and coverage factor and a revised model ranking method has been developed to improve the accuracy of model ranking, which is mainly extension of existing normalized criteria distance method.
Abstract: This paper presents a unified approach to model the reliability growth of software with imperfect debugging and coverage factor. Existing testing coverage‐based software reliability growth models considered that faults present at a particular fault location are detected with certainty during the testing process. Practically, it is very difficult to detect all software faults. To overcome this limitation, a revised software reliability growth model has been developed with the assumption that detection of the faults at a particular fault location is not definite. Furthermore, a new method to model the imperfect debugging phenomenon has been incorporated in the proposed study. A revised model ranking method has been developed to improve the accuracy of model ranking, which is mainly extension of existing normalized criteria distance method. Change point analysis has been done with the effect of different environmental factors on the models' parameters. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.
TL;DR: In this paper, Agile methods are increasingly introduced in automotive companies in the attempt to become more efficient and flexible in the system development, and the adoption of agile practices influences the development of automotive systems.
Abstract: Summary Agile methods are increasingly introduced in automotive companies in the attempt to become more efficient and flexible in the system development. The adoption of agile practices influences ...
TL;DR: This paper investigates influential software changes and proposes an approach to identify them immediately when they are applied, and builds a classification model of ICs to help developers find and address them early.
Abstract: One single code change can significantly influence a wide range of software systems and their users. For example, (a) adding a new feature can spread defects in several modules, while (b) ...
TL;DR: It is found that the detection of bad smells in class and sequence diagrams is accomplished via design patterns, software metrics, and predefined rules, while model smells in use cases are detected using metrics andpredefined rules.
Abstract: Bad smells tend to have a negative impact on software by degrading its quality. It is beneficial to detect model smells to avoid their propagation to later stages of software development. The objective of this paper is to present the state‐of‐the‐art research on techniques for detecting UML model bad smells. The detection techniques are compared and evaluated using a proposed evaluation framework. The framework consists of two parts. The first part of the framework compares the techniques in terms of the implemented approach, the investigated model, and the explored model smells, while the experimental design is explored in the second part of the framework. We found that the detection of bad smells in class and sequence diagrams is accomplished via design patterns, software metrics, and predefined rules, while model smells in use cases are detected using metrics and predefined rules. We also found that the class diagram is the most investigated UML model in the context of model smell detection, whereas there is a lack of work on other UML models. In addition, there is a scarcity of independent studies on sequence diagrams. Furthermore, the studies investigating class diagrams are mostly validated, whereas use case diagrams and sequence diagrams are rarely validated.
TL;DR: To identify maturity models and their validities as well as a classification of models across industrial sectors, a mapping study was applied to initially retrieved 2381 articles on maturity models published in peer‐reviewed journals between 1993 and June 2015.
Abstract: A variety of maturity models have been developed and evolved as a tool for assessments/benchmarking and continuous improvements for the past two decades. The rapidly increasing number of m...
TL;DR: The positive experiences reported by all employees during the agile transition indicate that an evolutionary transition to agile software development is suitable for small companies.
Abstract: Many smaller companies cannot afford the time and effort to change their development processes all at once. In some cases, companies are not aware of the fact that many aspects of agile de...
TL;DR: This paper characterize the occurrence of known bug‐fix patterns in Java repositories at an unprecedented large scale and proposes a novel automatic technique for unveiling frequent and isolated repair actions corresponding to realistic bug fixes in Java.
Abstract: Background: Automatic program repair aims to reduce costs associated with defect repair. The detection and characterization of common bug‐fix patterns in software repositories play an impo...
TL;DR: This paper presents an ISO 31000‐based Integrated Risk Management Process Assessment Model (PAM) for IT organizations enabling to integrate on an easy way several ISO process‐oriented standards which are often targeted by IT organizations.
Abstract: Governance, Risk management, and Compliance activities are key challenges faced by organizations. Process Models and Capability Process Assessments are governance instruments that can help organization in assessing and improving their processes. Several ISO standards propose process models for Management System Standards based on ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 20000‐1, and ISO/IEC 27001, and for project management with ISO 21500. The ISO 31000 standard provides guidance for Risk management with a process approach and systemic perspective. This paper presents an ISO 31000‐based Integrated Risk Management Process Assessment Model (PAM) for IT organizations enabling to integrate on an easy way several ISO process‐oriented standards which are often targeted by IT organizations. This PAM integrates risk management dimensions with ISO 9001, ISO 21500, ISO/IEC 20000‐1, and ISO/IEC 27001. It offers a centralized and integrated risk management approach which provides the basis to improve, coordinate, and interoperate risk management activities.
TL;DR: The results provide positive evidence that users with visual disabilities could benefit from the proposed features and enables the transfer of design experience to programming practices and improves the software documentation.
Abstract: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines was developed by World Wide Web Consortium with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments. Given that there is a large percentage of very small entities that develop software who also utilize the ISO/IEC software process standard, the purpose of this study is the development of software design patterns for users with visual disabilities. As a result, four accessibility design patterns are defined: Authentication adapter, Blindness adapter, Dichromatic color vision adapter, and Blurry vision adapter. These patterns will help to improve the design of the web applications built using them while being compliant with the ISO/IEC 29110 standard. The use of design patterns also enables the transfer of design experience to programming practices and improves the software documentation. To validate the set of patterns, an online course for Spanish speakers was developed, and the evaluation was carried out using simulators, automated tools, experts, and users. Simulators and automated tools showed no accessibility errors and experts evaluated 10 heuristics principles and did not identify any severity issues. Taken together, our results provide positive evidence that users with visual disabilities could benefit from the proposed features.
TL;DR: An improved transfer adaptive boosting (ITrAdaBoost) approach for being given a small number of labeled data in the testing project that significantly outperforms state‐of‐the‐art cross‐project defect prediction (CPDP) approaches and can obtain comparable prediction performances in contrast with within project prediction results.
Abstract: Software defect prediction (SDP) has been a very important research topic in software engineering, since it can provide high‐quality results when given sufficient historical data of the pr...
TL;DR: The proposed hybrid method produces more accurate estimates than only expert‐based or only model‐based estimates and both students and practitioners perceived the usefulness and understandability of the method positively.
Abstract: In agile software development, functionality is added to the system in an incremental and iterative manner. Practitioners often rely on expert judgment to estimate the effort in this context. Howev ...
TL;DR: MapReduce is a processing model used in Big Data to facilitate the analysis of large data under a distributed architecture that simplifies the management of large amounts of data.
Abstract: Trabajo apoyado en parte por los proyectos TIN2016‐76956 ‐ C3‐1 ‐ R y TIN2013‐46928 ‐ C3‐1, financiado por el Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad de Espana, y GRUPIN14‐007, financiado por el Principado de Asturias (Espana) y FEDER
TL;DR: Though the use of feature selection techniques led single and ensemble fuzzy analogy to generate accurate estimations, they failed to be a source of diversity for fuzzy analogy ensembles, so constructing fuzzy analogy homogenous ensemble techniques that combine single fuzzy analogy techniques with different parameter configurations still generate better accuracy than filter fuzzy analogyEnsembles.
Abstract: Researchers have developed and evaluated many techniques to deliver accurate estimates of the effort required to complete a new software program. Among these, analogy has emerged as a very...
TL;DR: The analysis results show that UCR model can be applied in different project environments and that according to the observed mean magnitude relative error, it produced very promising effort estimates.
Abstract: This paper describes a new effort estimation model based on use case reuse, called the use case reusability (UCR), intended for the projects that are reusing artifacts previously developed...
TL;DR: A framework for measuring software product maturity as an indicator of product quality and can help software organizations and software clients ensure that software products meet the appropriate quality levels is proposed.
Abstract: The need to ensure the quality of software is growing in importance on a daily basis due to the growing role of software in critical products and application areas, such as defense, aerosp...
TL;DR: It is concluded that CSE remains partially difficult to capture for practitioners, while their attitude toward integrating usage and decision knowledge into CSE is positive.
Abstract: Continuous software engineering (CSE) emerged as a process that is increasingly applied by practitioners. However, different perceptions impede its adoption in industry. Furthermore, oppor...
TL;DR: It is argued that such incomplete implementations violate Scrum's core practices and philosophy, while others propose that all methodologies should be adapted to organization's unique culture and integrated with their best practices.
Abstract: Software organizations have to develop software in a short time, and quickly respond to changing requirements. Recently, organizations have started to implement agile development models to...
TL;DR: For successful initiation of software process improvement (SPI) initiatives in software SMEs, it is vital for the practitioners to have deep understanding of various SPI inhibitors.
Abstract: Context For successful initiation of software process improvement (SPI) initiatives in software SMEs, it is vital for the practitioners to have deep understanding of various SPI inhibitors...