1,721,029 research outputs found
Guidelines on the use of Fit tables in software maintenance tasks: Lessons learned from 8 experiments
No full textExecutable acceptance test case - in particular Fit (Framework for Integrated Test) tables - originally intended for the development phase proved useful in maintenance activities too. Empirical evidence suggests that Fit tables are useful in improving the comprehension of change requirements and the correctness of the maintained code. Stemming from eight experiments formerly performed by the authors, this paper presents a set of lessons learned and guidelines useful for project managers on the use of Fit tables in maintenance tasks. Specifically, the paper discusses the use of Fit tables in maintenance tasks considering a set of dimensions, ranging from maintainers' experience to the nature of application being maintained and to the kind of benefits introduced by Fit tables. Benefits of Fit tables, such as improving the code correctness and comprehension, increase with developers experience and complex requirements but decrease with Web-based applications and when programmers work in pair
Relevance, benefits, and problems of software modelling and model driven techniques—A survey in the Italian industry
Full text linkContext Claimed benefits of software modelling and model driven techniques are improvements in productivity, portability, maintainability and interoperability. However, little effort has been devoted at collecting evidence to evaluate their actual relevance, benefits and usage complications. Goal The main goals of this paper are: (1) assess the diffusion and relevance of software modelling and MD techniques in the Italian industry, (2) understand the expected and achieved benefits, and (3) identify which problems limit/prevent their diffusion. Method We conducted an exploratory personal opinion survey with a sample of 155 Italian software professionals by means of a Web-based questionnaire on-line from February to April 2011. Results Software modelling and MD techniques are very relevant in the Italian industry. The adoption of simple modelling brings common benefits (better design support, documentation improvement, better maintenance, and higher software quality), while MD techniques make it easier to achieve: improved standardization, higher productivity, and platform independence. We identified problems, some hindering adoption (too much effort required and limited usefulness) others preventing it (lack of competencies and supporting tools). Conclusions The relevance represents an important objective motivation for researchers in this area. The relationship between techniques and attainable benefits represents an instrument for practitioners planning the adoption of such techniques. In addition the findings may provide hints for companies and universitie
Towards Empirical Validation of Design Notations for Web Applications: An Experimental Framework
No full textImpact Analysis by means of Unstructured Knowledge in the Context of Bug Repositories
No full textFixing bugs and implementing enhancements are very relevant activities in a typical software life cycle. They require, as a pre-requisite, the location of a portion of impacted code within a possibly large codebase. This operation can be extremely difficult and time-consuming particularly for developers not much familiar with the software. With that perspective we focus on a simple research question: is it possible to support impact analysis using the information available in software repositories, in particular code comments and version control log? We devised a simple and novel approach, based on Natural Language Processing techniques, that provides support in impact analysis. On the average the proposed approach is very selective with a 99% specificity and achieves a recall of 96% and a precision of 13.6% with respect to a manually built gold standard
Talking tests: an empirical assessment of the role of fit acceptance tests in clarifying requirements
No full textThe starting point for software evolution is usually a change request, expressing the new or updated requirements on the delivered system. The requirements specified in a change request document are often incomplete and inconsistent with the initial requirement document, as well as the implementation. Programmers working on the evolution of the software are often in trouble interpreting an under-specified change request document, resulting in code that does not meet the users' expectations and contains faults that can only be detected later through expensive testing activities. In this paper, we investigate the role of acceptance tests to clarify the requirements used in software evolution iterations. In particular we focus on Fit tables, a way to express acceptance tests which simplifies their translation into executable test cases. We designed and ran an experiment to assess whether availability of Fit tables affects the level of understanding and the productivity in understanding the requirements. Results indicate that Fit tables significantly improve requirement understanding, but tend to involve additional effor
Preliminary findings from a survey on the MD state of the practice
Full text linkIn the context of an Italian research project, this paper reports on an on-line survey, performed with 155 software professionals, with the aim of investigating about their opinions and experiences in modeling during software development and Model-driven engineering usage. The survey focused also on used modeling languages, processes and tools. A preliminary analysis of the results confirmed that Model-driven engineering, and more in general software modeling, are very relevant phenomena. Approximately 68% of the sample use models during software development. Among then, 44% generate code starting from models and 16% execute them directly. The preferred language for modeling is UML but DSLs are used as wel
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Comparing "Traditional" and Web specific Fit Tables in maintenance tasks: a preliminary Empirical Study
No full textIn this paper we focus on the use of Fit tables, a table- based approach used to clarify (change-)requirements and validate software systems. The main purpose of this work is to compare Fit tables for traditional systems and Web specific Fit tables. Results indicate that Fit tables do not provide any significant help to Web developers, while they seem to be useful for traditional systems. The main reason appears to lie in the complexity of the Fit tables used for Web systems
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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