6 research outputs found
Software development process enhancement: a framework for decision-making support
No full textBACKGROUND. Software development is a mixture of technical, human and contextual factors,
which make it complex and hard to manage. As in physics, medicine and social sciences,
experimentation is the fundamental way for Software Engineering to understand, predict and
cost-effectively control the software development process. In this thesis we deal with the
improvement of the software development process, which may depend on a remarkable number
of variables, even dozens; however, the currently available improvement models consider only
small numbers of variables.
CONTEXT. The present work is a PhD thesis conceived and realized between 2009 and 2013 and
developed partly in Italy and partly in the United States, with the contributions of the University
of Rome Tor Vergata, the Fraunhofer Center for Experimental Software Engineering - Maryland,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and MBDA Italia.
GOAL. The purpose of this study is to understand, predict and control the software development
process with focus on performance - modeled as a set of variables of the necessary cardinality, -
from the point of view of decision makers, in the context of companies and agencies willing to
achieve their business goals via a rigorous, predictable and engineered approach to software
development. In other words, we aim to provide decision makers with a coherent and
encompassing set of models and tools to support their Software Engineering job.
METHOD. In order to achieve this goal, we first need to define a theoretical foundation for our
approach; then we need to validate such theoretical model, so to refine and complete its
formulation. Subsequently, we need to enable decision makers to use and leverage the validated
model in practice.
RESULTS. The main result of this thesis is a framework, tailored to both researchers’ and
practitioners’ needs, to support the experimental investigation, and consequent improvement,
of the software development process of organizations by detecting, modeling, and aggregating
as many variables as necessary (up to ninety-four in our experience), and eventually use them to
build measurement models. In this work, we report on the theoretical foundation of our
framework and evidence of its successful preliminary validation on the field, with different
organizations, including three major international companies, each having diverse goals and
constraints in place. Specifically, the outputs of this study consist in a set of tailorable and
usable methods to help experts make decisions concerning software development, along with a
significant series of experiences to show its functionality and with some recommendations on how to turn the framework into practice
Mobile Apps Development: A Framework for Technology Decision Making.
No full textDevelopers of a new Mobile App have to undertake a number of decisions, including the target platform and the development technology to utilize. Even though there is no one-size-fits-all solution, which could meet all needs for all contexts, this paper is concerned with an exploratory study aimed to provide developers with a framework to support their technology selection process, including practical guidelines on how to select the technology that best fits the given context and requirements. The exploited research methods are survey, interview, and case study. Results consist in a model of, and a collection of data and experts’ experiences about, some advanced platforms. Results are packed in a tool-prototype: once entered the needs and required device features, the tool returns measures that allow a decision maker to identify the development technology, among the recommended alternatives, which best
fulfills the actual requirements
Enhancing the System Development Process Performance: a Value-Based Approach
No full textWhen planning or controlling the system development process, a project leader needs to make decisions which take into account a number of aspects, including: availability of assets and competences, previously enacted processes in the organization, certifications the system is required to obtain, standards to comply with, interactions among process activities, contextual factors and constraints, and allocated budget and schedule.
In this paper we propose a value-based approach for supporting decision making. The aim is to provide supportive information for decisions related to the system verification process. This would in turn enhance the performance of system development process by supporting the decision making process for complex systems. We report both academic and industrial empirical evaluations, which demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposal, and thus prompt us to refine and extend our approach to sub-processes other than verification
Contro Papa Francesco: Strategie e metodi di un «disordine informativo» pianificato
No full textThe concept of «information disorder» seems the most adapt for understanding the mechanisms of disinformation and fake news which conceal the organized and programmed behavior detrimental to both institutions and persons. The case of Mgr. Carlo Maria Viganò, excommunicated on the 5th of July, is a good example of the characteristics and the methods of the «information disorder» put into place regarding Pope Francis and his Pontificate. In this article the author looks at the characteristics of such an informationdisorder», its methodologies and pragmatic consequences regarding the present Pontificate which create a broader situation of ecclesial polarization than that which in reality exists. The article ends with some future prospects for contrasting the present phenomenon.Il concetto di «disordine informativo» sembra il più adatto per comprendere i meccanismi della disinformazione e della diffusione di notizie false, dietro le quali si celano modalità organizzate e programmate ai danni di istituzioni e persone. La vicenda di Mons. Carlo Maria Viganò, scomunicato il 5 luglio, esemplifica bene le caratteristiche e le modalità del «disordine informativo » messo in atto nei confronti di Papa Francesco e del suo Pontificato. In questo articolo si mostrano le caratteristiche del «disordine informativo», lemodalità operative, e come agiscono nei confronti del Pontificato attuale. Si genera una situazione di polarizzazione ecclesiale più ampia di quanto sia nella realtà. L’analisi termina prospettando alcune possibilità di contrasto del fenomeno
Empirical software engineering experts on the use of students and professionals in experiments
No full textUsing students as participants remains a valid simplification of reality needed in laboratory contexts. It is an effective way to advance software engineering theories and technologies but, like any other aspect of study settings, should be carefully considered during the design, execution, interpretation, and reporting of an experiment. The key is to understand which developer population portion is being represented by the participants in an experiment. Thus, a proposal for describing experimental participants is put forward
