Rationale-based Software Engineering

by Burge, Janet E.; Carroll, John M.; Mccall, Raymond; Mistrik, Ivan

• ISBN13: 9783540775829
• ISBN10: 354077582X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-04
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc

Summary

Many decisions are required throughout the software development process. These decisions, and to some extent the decision-making process itself, can best be documented as the rationale for the system, which will reveal not only what was done during development but the reasons behind the choices made and alternatives considered and rejected. This information becomes increasingly critical as software development becomes more distributed and encompasses the corporate knowledge both used and refined during the development process. The capture of rationale helps to ensure that decisions are well thought out and justified and the use of rationale can help avoid the mistakes of the past during both the development of the current system and when software products (architecture and design, as well as code) are rused in future systems.

Author Biography

Janet E. Burge is an Assistant Professor at Miami University Computer Science and Systems Analysis Department. Her major research interests are in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. Her primary research area is in Design Rationale, with a focus on Design Rationale for Software Maintenance. She received her PhD in Computer Science from WPI in 2005, her M.S in Computer Science from WPI in 1999, and her B.S. in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University in 1984.John M. Carroll is the Edward M. Frymoyer Chair Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include methods and theory in human-computer interaction, particularly as applied to networking tools for collaborative learning and problem solving, and the design of interactive information systems. He serves on several editorial boards for journals, handbooks, and series and is Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interactions. He received the Rigo Award and the CHI Lifetime Achievement Award from ACM, the Silver Core Award from IFIP, and the Alfred N. Goldsmith Award from IEEE. He is a fellow of the ACM, IEEE, and HFES.Raymond McCall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Planning and Design at the University of Colorado, Denver. His major areas of research are in design rationale methods and systems. Since 1992, most of his research has concentrated on the use of rationale to support the design of artifacts for human exploration of space. For much of this time he collaborated with NASA contractors and with employees of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He has nearly 30 years of experience in design rationale usage in architectural design, planning, policy making and software design. He created the first hypertext systems for support of design rationale in the 1970s and 1980s and was the first to integrate support for rationale capture and delivery into 3D computer-aided design systems. Ivan Mistr+¡­k is an independent consultant for software-intensive systems engineering. He has 40 years experience in both software and systems engineering as an information systems developer, R&D leader, research analyst, and ICT management consultant. He is the author or co-author of more than 80 articles and papers in international journals, conferences, books and workshops and was an editor of the Special Issue on "Relating Software Requirements and Architectures" published in 2005.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
What is Rationale and Why Does It Matter?	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
The Scope and Value of Rationale in Software Engineering	p. 3
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 5
A Rough Sketch of Research on Rationale	p. 5
Argumentative Approaches to Rationale	p. 5
Rationale Methods That Go Beyond Argumentation	p. 12
Why Rationale Matters	p. 13
The Usefulness of Rationale for Artifact Creation	p. 13
The Usefulness of Rationale for Software Engineering	p. 16
Summary and Conclusions	p. 22
What Makes Software Different	p. 25
Introduction	p. 25
Rationale for Software Artifacts versus Rationale for Physical ARtifacts	p. 25
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 26
The Roles of the Computer	p. 26
Comparison of the Roles of the Computer in the Lifecycles of Physical and Software Artifacts	p. 27
The Significance for Rationale Management in Software Engineering	p. 28
Iteration in Development	p. 32
The Role of Iteration in Different Types of Development	p. 32
Implications of Iteration for Rationale Management in Software Engineering	p. 33
Summary and Conclusion	p. 35
Rationale and Software Engineering	p. 37
Introduction	p. 37
Software Engineering	p. 37
Software Engineering Rationale	p. 38
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 38
Rationale and the Software Process	p. 38
Software Process Definition and Implementation	p. 38
Rationale and SE Process Decision-Making	p. 39
Rationale and Project Management	p. 41
Rationale and Software Development	p. 43
Why Capture Software Engineering Rationale?	p. 43
What are the Uses of Software Engineering Rationale?	p. 44
When can Software Engineering Rationale be Used in Software Development?	p. 45
How Can We Support Software Engineering Rationale Use in Software Development?	p. 47
Summary and Conclusions	p. 47
Learning from Rationale Research in Other Domains	p. 49
Introduction	p. 49
Research on Rationale in other Domains	p. 49
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 50
Domain-Oriented Design Environments Using PHI	p. 50
PHIDIAS and JANUS	p. 50
Discussion	p. 53
Automating the Capture of Design Rationale with CAD	p. 55
The Rationale Capture Problem	p. 55
Solution Approach: Automating the Capture of Rationale	p. 56
Implementation: The Rationale Construction Framework	p. 57
Discussion	p. 58
Parameter Dependency Networks as Design Rationale	p. 59
The DRIVE System and Parameter Dependency Networks	p. 59
Discussion	p. 60
Case-Based Reasoning as Design Rationale	p. 61
From Automated Case-Based Reasoning to Case-Based Design Aids	p. 61
Discussion	p. 64
Summary and Conclusions	p. 66
Decision-Making in Software Engineering	p. 67
Introduction	p. 67
General	p. 67
Objectives of this Chapter	p. 67
Decision-Making Problems	p. 68
Where Decisions Go Wrong	p. 68
Poor Decisions in Software	p. 69
Naturalistic Decision-Making	p. 71
Background	p. 71
The Recognition-Primed Decision Model	p. 72
Rationale as a Resource for Decision-Making	p. 73
Classical Decision-Making	p. 74
Naturalistic Decision-making	p. 75
Summary and Conclusions	p. 76
Uses for Rationale	p. 77
Presentation of Rationale	p. 79
Introduction	p. 79
General	p. 79
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 79
Codifying Rationale Semiformally	p. 80
The rationale for rationale notations	p. 80
Hypermedia Presentations of Rationale	p. 81
Using Semiformal Rationales	p. 82
Codifying Rationale Informally	p. 83
Directions	p. 85
Reusable Rationale Databases	p. 86
Multi-Scale Presentations of Rationale	p. 87
Integrated Presentation	p. 87
Summary and Conclusions	p. 89
Evaluation	p. 91
Introduction	p. 91
Argumentation-Based Rationale	p. 91
Scenario-Based Rationale	p. 93
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 93
Evaluating the Rationale	p. 94
Completeness	p. 94
Correctness	p. 95
Evaluating the Decisions	p. 96
Comparing Alternatives	p. 96
Combining Inputs from Multiple Developers	p. 97
Handling Uncertainty	p. 98
Scenario-Based Evaluation	p. 100
Summary and Conclusions	p. 101
Support for Collaboration	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
General	p. 103
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 103
Software Development as Collaborative Work	p. 104
Collaboration Is Inescapable	p. 104
Collaboration Entrains Challenges	p. 105
Collaboration Supports Rationale	p. 106
Collaboration Externalizes Rationales	p. 107
Software Development Communities of Practice	p. 108
Rationale Supports Collaboration	p. 110
Awareness	p. 110
Coordination	p. 111
Summary and Conclusions	p. 112
Change Analysis	p. 113
Introduction	p. 113
Issues with Change in Software Development	p. 113
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 115
Types of Software Changes	p. 115
Functional Requirement Change	p. 116
Nonfunctional Requirement Change	p. 117
Changing Assumptions	p. 118
Structural Changes	p. 119
Defect Correction	p. 119
Change Impact Assessment	p. 120
Consistency Management	p. 121
Summary and Conclusions	p. 122
Rationale and Software Engineering	p. 123
Rationale and the Software Lifecycle	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Software Engineering Process	p. 125
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 126
Development Activities and Rationale	p. 126
Project Planning and Management	p. 126
Requirements	p. 127
Design	p. 127
Implementation	p. 128
Verification and Validation	p. 128
Maintenance	p. 129
Retirement	p. 129
Software Lifecycle Models	p. 129
Sequential Models	p. 129
Iterative Models	p. 131
Other Models	p. 133
Software Process Improvement	p. 136
CMM	p. 136
Personal Software Process	p. 137
Summary and Conclusions	p. 138
Rationale and Requirements Engineering	p. 139
Introduction	p. 139
Requirements Engineering	p. 139
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 140
Obtaining Requirements	p. 140
Requirements Elicitation	p. 140
Achieving Consensus	p. 142
Requirements Inconsistency	p. 143
Requirements Prioritization	p. 144
Requirements Traceability	p. 144
Rationale and Nonfunctional Requirements	p. 146
Nonfunctional Requirement Categorization	p. 146
The NFR Framework	p. 147
SEURAT Argument Ontology and NFR Prioritization	p. 148
NFRs and Conflict Representation and Detection	p. 148
Goal-Based Requirements Engineering	p. 149
Goal-Based Requirements Analysis	p. 149
Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering	p. 150
Relationship to Rationale	p. 151
Adapting to Changing Requirements	p. 152
Summary and Conclusions	p. 153
Rationale and Software Design	p. 155
Introduction	p. 155
The Nature and Importance of Software Design Rationale	p. 156
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 156
Relating Rationale Approaches to Software Design Processes	p. 157
Decision-centric and Usage-centric Rationale Approaches	p. 157
Prescriptive and Descriptive Roles of Rationale Approaches	p. 159
Rationale for Design Space Analysis and Deeper Reflection	p. 164
Specific Approaches that Integrate Rationale into Software Design	p. 167
Rationale and Software Architecture	p. 167
Strategies for Fitting Rationale into Architectural Design Processes	p. 172
Summary and Conclusions	p. 173
Rationale and Software Verification, Validation, and Testing	p. 175
Introduction	p. 175
Verification, Validation, and Testing	p. 175
Software Testing Issues	p. 176
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 177
Types of Software VV&T	p. 177
Inspection	p. 177
Unit Testing	p. 178
Integration Testing	p. 179
System Testing	p. 179
Rationale Support for Software VV&T	p. 180
Rationale and Testability	p. 180
Rationale and Test Case Prioritization	p. 181
Rationale, Testing, and Component Selection	p. 182
Software Testing Rationale	p. 183
Testing Rationale	p. 183
Uses for Testing Rationale	p. 184
Summary and Conclusions	p. 184
Rationale and Software Maintenance	p. 187
Introduction	p. 187
Software Maintenance and Evolution	p. 187
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 188
Types of Software Maintenance	p. 188
Improving Maintainability	p. 190
Designing for Maintenance	p. 190
System Reengineering	p. 191
Software Maintenance Support	p. 193
Maintenance Prediction	p. 193
Impact Assessment	p. 193
Program Comprehension	p. 194
Maintenance Recovery	p. 196
Maintenance Rationale	p. 197
Summary and Conclusions	p. 198
Rationale and Software Reuse	p. 199
Introduction	p. 199
Software Reuse	p. 199
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 200
Reuse: Concepts and Categories	p. 200
Types of Reuse	p. 200
Types of Rationale for Reuse	p. 202
Reusable Rationale	p. 203
Applying Rationale	p. 203
Rationale and Patterns	p. 203
Rationale and Component-Based Software Engineering	p. 205
Rationale and Software Product Lines	p. 206
Rationale and COTS-Based Software Engineering	p. 208
Summary and Conclusions	p. 209
Frameworks for Rationale-Based Software Engineering	p. 211
A Conceptual Framework	p. 213
Introduction	p. 213
What a Conceptual Framework Should Do	p. 213
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 214
General Goals of Rationale Usage in Software Engineering	p. 214
Rationale: Types of Approaches, Specific Approaches, and Methods	p. 215
Decision-centric Rationale in Software Engineering	p. 216
Decision-Making in Rationale Approaches	p. 216
Question Answering in Software Engineering	p. 218
Using Decision-centric Rationale in the Full Spectrum of SER	p. 223
Usage-centric Rationale in Software Engineering	p. 227
Rationale and Iterative Software Development	p. 228
A Rationale-Based Account of Iterative Development	p. 229
Principles for Rationale Approaches to Support Iterative Development	p. 230
Supporting Iterative Development by Combining Decision-centric and Usage-centric Rationale	p. 234
Challenges to Rationale Usage	p. 235
Solving the Capture Problem	p. 235
Solving the Delivery Problem	p. 238
Summary and Conclusions	p. 239
An Architectural Framework	p. 241
Introduction	p. 241
An Integrative Architecture for Rationale-Based Software Engineering	p. 241
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 242
The Need for an Integrative Approach to Rationale Management	p. 243
Representing and Integrating All Types of Software Engineering Rationale	p. 243
Alleviating the Capture and Delivery Problems	p. 243
Framework of an Integrative Architecture for Rationale Management in Software Engineering	p. 248
An Overview of the Framework	p. 248
Workings of the Rational Management System	p. 249
Integration with External Systems	p. 251
Summary and Conclusions	p. 254
Rationale-Based Software Engineering: Summary and Prospect	p. 255
Introduction	p. 255
Rationale as an Aid to Software Engineering	p. 255
Objectives of This Chapter	p. 256
Summary of the Book	p. 256
The Challenges of Future Software Development	p. 258
Managing Change	p. 258
Managing the Increasing Scale, Complexity, and Longevity of Software Projects	p. 258
The Promise of Rationale-Based Software Engineering	p. 259
Rationale and the Management of Change	p. 260
Using Rationale to Manage the Increasing Scale, Complexity, and Longevity of Software Projects	p. 261
Challenges for Rationale-Based Software Engineering	p. 261
Addressing the Capture Problem	p. 262
Addressing the Delivery Problem	p. 265
Summary and Conclusions	p. 266
Bibliography	p. 269
Glossary	p. 295
Index	p. 311
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