This paper reports on a large-scale empirical multiple-case study that aimed to characterize the requirements space in the domain of web-based Enterprise Systems (ES). Results from this study, among others, showed that, on the average, about 85% of all the software functionalities in the studied domain are specified using a small core set of five requirements classes even though the results of the study hint at a larger set of nine requirements classes that should be covered. The study also uncovered a law describing the growth pattern of the emerging requirements classes in software domains. According to this law, the emergence of the classes in a requirements taxonomic scheme for a particular domain, independent of the order in which specifications of requirements in that domain are analyzed, includes a rapid initial growth phase, where the majority of the requirements classes are identified, followed by a rapid slow-down phase with periods of no growth (i.e., the stabilization phase).
It is well known that software production organizations spend a sizeable amount of their project budget to rectify the defects introduced into the software systems during the development process. An in depth understanding of the mechanisms that give rise to defects is an essential step towards the reduction of defects in software systems. In line with this objective, we conducted a case study of defect introduction mechanisms on three major components of an industrial enterprise resource planning software system, and observed that external factors including incomplete requirements specifications, adopting new, unfamiliar technologies, lack of requirements traceability, and the lack of proactive and explicit definition and enforcement of user interface consistency rules account for 59% of the defects. These findings suggest areas where effort should be directed.
Software engineering education is a technologically challenging, rapidly evolving discipline. Like all STEM educators, software engineering educators are bombarded with a constant stream of new tools and techniques (MOOCs! Active learning! Inverted classrooms!) while under national pressure to produce outstanding STEM graduates. Software engineering educators are also pressured on the discipline side; a constant evolution of technology coupled with a still emerging engineering discipline. As a handson engineering discipline, where engineers not only design but also construct the technology, guidance on the adoption of project-centric curricula is needed. This paper focuses on vertical integration of project experiences in undergraduate software engineering degree programs or course sequences. The Software Enterprise, now in its 9 th year, has grown from an upper-division course sequence to a vertical integration program feature. The Software Enterprise is presented as an implementation of a project spine curricular pattern, and a plan for maturing this model is given.
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