Modelling a software evolution process: a long-term case study

Chatters, B.; Lehman, M. M.; Ramil, Juan F.; Wernick, Paul

doi:10.1002/1099-1670(200006/09)5:2/3<91::aid-spip123>3.0.co;2-l

Cited by 39 publications

(62 citation statements)

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“…[8:125]. In our previous simulation models intended to represent the highest-level causal mechanisms producing observed patterns of commercial software evolution [3,17,19], these mechanisms have been highly abstracted, particularly with respect to the actions of individual people. Previous descriptions of the global software process have also tended to be based on an explicit or implicit division of these agents into 'active' people and 'passive' technical elements.…”

Section: The Problem -And a Possible Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The influence of this mindset can be seen, for example, in [5], in which their Figure 1 shows a program surrounded by people, who are interacting with it but which are very obviously different sorts of things from the program itself. This mode of thinking is also implicit in our simulation models, in which we have sought to describe this process [3,16,17,19]. By way of contrast, Latour's actor-network theory (ANT) [7], an approach based on a sociological view of technological change, provides us with a viewpoint from which the effects of both human and technical participants on process characteristics and behaviour can be considered on a more equal footing.…”

Section: The Problem -And a Possible Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He suggests that the latter feel they need to add some intangible thing, the 'social' dimension, to what can be actually seen in a situation, in order to explain it. 3 Latour himself sees no separate 'social' medium in which the people and technologies involved float; instead, a situation comprises human and non-human entities and interconnections between them. He further suggests that social situations are different from other, non-social situations due to the complex interactions between the entities which make them up rather than the presence of some 'social' substance.…”

Section: The Actor-network Theory Viewpointmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As to how to obtain the relevant values, it will be necessary again to refer to experts' views as to how a specific process (or the process in general) works and reduce their opinions to quantified values. We have previously calibrated values for software processes based on expert opinion during the development of successful simulation models [3,19]. Finally, a mechanism for connecting the elements of the model into a network will need to be developed.…”

Section: First Thoughts On the Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Software evolutionary dynamics modelled as the activity of an actor-network

2008

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Section: The Problem -And a Possible Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Problem -And a Possible Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Actor-network Theory Viewpointmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: First Thoughts On the Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Software evolutionary dynamics modelled as the activity of an actor-network

2008

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“…It is derived from ideas, structures and values from our previous software evolution simulation models. In particular, it incorporates feedback structures representing both the generation of new requirements (Chatters et al 2000) and the correction of faults in previously-implemented requirements (Wernick and Lehman, 1999 The model works as follows. The software process is viewed as a mechanism to convert requirements which need to be met into requirements which have been met and fielded to users.…”

Section: Model Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

A policy investigation model for long-term software evolution processes

Wernick

Hall²

2004

"5th International Workshop on Software Process Simulation and Modeling (ProSim 2004)" W11L Workshop - 26th International Confe

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1Objective of this Research The work presented here is intended to develop a simple calibratable simulation model of a long-term software evolution process. This base model will act as a test-bed for the examination of effects of long-term software process 'improvement' proposals, since it will be possible to modify it to reflect the effects on the process of any particular proposed change.The use of an existing simulation in this way is not itself novel. Existing work on the same lines (Tveldt and Collofello 1995;Haberlein, 2003) use Abdel-Hamid and Madnick's model (1991) as a base. However, they are examining the effect on a single development project as against the longer-term effect over many years and many releases considered here. In addition, the latter is a complex model, with many variables and a considerable number of inputs to calibrate. The base model presented here is intended to be as simple as possible whilst allowing the crucial variables to be manipulated. The simplicity has a number of advantages:• the base model is easier to calibrate, requiring fewer inputs to be quantified; • in the same way, it should be easier to reflect proposed process changes, since fewer changes to the model structure and/or fewer calibration inputs need to be taken into account; • there is less potential for the model to fail to reflect reality after changes to go wrong when simulating a process change, since this inevitably results in taking a model outside its known behaviour envelope; and • the evaluation and interpretation of results of proposed process changes is more easily understandable.On the other hand, some of the subtleties in process changes may be missed with this approach. 2The Base Model Described Model StructureThe model presented in this section represents the structures, effects, inputs and outputs of a long-term software evolution process. To allow the adoption of different methods and approaches to be simulated it is important that the base model is simple. A sufficiently simple base model will allow the simulation of generalised software development and evolution activities without any bias for or against any particular method, toolset or approach.

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Process Models in Software Engineering

Scacchi¹

2002

Encyclopedia of Software Engineering

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IntroductionSoftware systems come and go through a series of passages that account for their inception, initial development, productive operation, upkeep, and retirement from one generation to another. This article categorizes and examines a number of methods for describing or modeling how software systems are developed. It begins with background and definitions of traditional software life cycle models that dominate most textbook discussions and current software development practices. This is followed by a more comprehensive review of the alternative models of software evolution that are of current use as the basis for organizing software engineering projects and technologies.

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Modelling a software evolution process: a long-term case study

Cited by 39 publications

References 3 publications

Software evolutionary dynamics modelled as the activity of an actor-network

Software evolutionary dynamics modelled as the activity of an actor-network

A policy investigation model for long-term software evolution processes

Process Models in Software Engineering

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