Contemporary software engineering modelling tends to rely on general-purpose languages, such as the Unified Modeling Language. However, such languages are practice-based and seldom underpinned with a solid theory -- be it mathematical, ontological or concomitant with language use. The future of software modelling deserves research to evaluate whether a language base that is compatible with these various elements as well as being philosophically coherent offers practical advantages to software developers.

Business processes are often expressed using a procedural metaphor that emphasizes time-ordering and task sequencing. Although this is relatively easy to model and fits similar mechanistic approaches used in other areas, it is ill-suited for organizations fundamentally composed of humans rather than machines. We argue in this paper that, because of the very nature of humans, a crucial component of businesses, business process should become business methods, and a radically different approach, based on products rather than tasks, should be taken to specify them.

While many organisations are interested in adopting agile methods suitable to their local circumstances, there is little guidance available on how to do so. To address this important issue, we have developed an agile software process lifecycle management framework (APLM). The APLM framework is intended for use by agile coaches, managers and consultants to facilitate the integration of agile practices into both software project development environments. This paper presents the outcomes of an empirical evaluation of the APLM framework that has been conducted by involving a practitioners' group composed of fourteen experienced agile experts from industry. The main objective of this empirical study is to determine to what extent each component of the agile process lifecycle management (APLM) framework is relevant, valuable and sufficient to achieve its purpose from an industry practitioner's perspective.

Development and acceptance of a modelling language (ML) for agent-oriented software development has many facets. To complement the “bottom-up” suggestions of icons for particular fine-scale agent-oriented concepts, here we address “top-down” the overall system-level goals and how we might depict them in diagrams. Then, having identified a suite of viewpoints, we recommend a number of diagram types that could constitute such a standard AOSE ML – recommendations based on an analysis of the theoretical literature and over twenty extant AOSE methodologies (and accompanying MLs).

In some areas of software engineering research, there are several metamodels claiming to capture the main issues. Though it is profitable to have variety at the beginning of a research field, after some time, the diversity of metamodels becomes an obstacle, for instance to the sharing of results between research groups. To reach consensus and unification of existing metamodels, metamodel-driven software language engineering can be applied. This paper illustrates an application of software language engineering in the agent-oriented software engineering research domain. Here, we introduce a relatively generic agent-oriented metamodel whose suitability for supporting modeling language development is demonstrated by evaluating it with respect to several existing methodology-specific metamodels. First, the metamodel is constructed by a combination of bottom-up and top-down analysis and best practice. The concepts thus obtained and their relationships are then evaluated by mapping to two agent-oriented metamodels: TAO and Islander. We then refine the metamodel by extending the comparisons with the metamodels implicit or explicit within five more extant agent-oriented approaches: Adelfe, PASSI, Gaia, INGENIAS, and Tropos. The resultant FAML metamodel is a potential candidate for future standardization as an important component for engineering an agent modeling language.

Collaboration is now becoming more common in business processes. Thus, ways are needed to integrate collaborative processes into such business processes. The implication for design methodologies is the need for synergies that integrate collaborative semantics with process metamodels in order to create software applications to assist people to collaborate. This paper describes a semantic model of collaboration, known as the LiveNet metamodel, and two standard process metamodels, SPEM (OMG) and the process part of the methodology metamodel ISO/IEC 24744. The paper suggests synergies between the collaborative and process metamodels and their potential convergence. The analysis carried out in the paper has revealed a number of metaclasses that could be valuably shared between metamodels to integrate process and collaborative semantics. The LiveNet collaborative metamodel has been incorporated into running software so that the theory built up here is substantiated and shown to be useful.

Introducing a change in any software development organization is challenging; as this paper demonstrates by means of a case study for the adoption of agile practices in a large software development organization. The case study research findings indicate that a situational method engineering approach together with an agile software solution framework (ASSF) can be used to create a feasible and usable hybrid software development method by combining agile practices and formal practices for a particular situation in large software development organizations.

Agile approaches to software development provide flexibility within the method, but provide little or no flexibility to support software process improvement (SPI). This second kind of flexibility is important to permit organizations to improve with time. To accomplish such improvement, a method-engineering approach is shown here to be useful. Examples of the application of method engineering to agile method construction are given based on the use of the OPEN process framework. A dual-agility method to support both intraproject and interproject flexibility can then be constructed by the selection of appropriate method fragments from this repository with the use of the accompanying guidelines. This is illustrated in an industry study of an organization transitioning to an agile software-development environment in which a minimalistic agile method was first constructed and then enhancements were made as the organization itself improved the process.

This paper outlines existing maturity models of project management and their underlying constructs. Organizations involved in software development in Sydney, Australia were interviewed about their project management practices and their responses analysed to determine whether different project managers used different levels of project management practices and whether the practices were in accordance with a process based maturity model. This did not seem to be the case, yet the data suggested that, as a possible alternative, a systems theory based approach might be more tenable. The overall conclusion, that a system theory based maturity model appears to be better correlated with organizational size and software development maturity than a process based maturity model, is briefly discussed and additional research is suggested that could investigate this novel conclusion further.

Contemporary software development organizations have a need for flexible processes and methodologies. They eschew formal, heavyweight methods for the use of more agile methodologies. Creating such an agile methodology is shown to be facilitated by using the theory of situational method engineering. This is then exemplified in a case study in a well-established, multinational legal publishing company in Australia.

The paper explains the need for a standard way of defining modelling constructs from different enterprise modelling languages and proposes a template for defining enterprise modelling constructs in a way that facilitates language integration. The template is based on the Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) representation model of information systems (IS) and has been used on several existing modelling languages and frameworks. It is illustrated with definitions of constructs from the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The paper focusses on modelling constructs that represent concrete problem domains, i.e., that represent materials rather than concepts, and thus focuses on the concrete parts and aspects of enterprises.

A formal definition for the semantics of the Whole-Part relationship in the Unified Modeling Language or UML is introduced. This provides a fully directly usable specification which can be incorporated into version 2.0 of UML. An improvement to the current metamodel fragment relating to relationships is proposed, supplemented by the introduction of axioms expressed in the Object Constraint Language or OCL. The overall formalization relates to a clear and concise emphasis on carefully enunciated (primary) characteristics that apply to all instances of a new Whole-Part metatype. Specific kinds of the Whole-Part relationship are defined in terms of secondary characteristics, which must be possessed by subtypes: In UML 1.4, these are Aggregation (a.k.a. white diamond) and Composition (a.k.a. black diamond). Primary and secondary characteristics may then be consistently combined with each other. Consequently, this allows the possible introduction of supplementary forms of Whole-Part. Such a revision is necessary since Aggregation and Composition in UML 1.4 do not cover the full spectrum of Whole-Part theory.

Based on users’ experiences of Version 1.3 of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) of the Object Management Group (OMG), a Request For Information in 1999 elicited several responses which were asked to identify “problems” but not to offer any solutions. One of these responses is examined for “problems” relating to the UML metamodel and here some solutions to the problems identified there are proposed. Specifically, we evaluate the metamodel relating to stereotypes versus subtypes; the various kinds of Classifier (particularly Types, Interfaces and Classes); the introduction of a new subtype for the whole-part relationship; as well as identifying areas in the metamodel where the UML seems to have been used inappropriately in the very definition of the UML’s metamodel.

To support commercial-strength Web development, it is as important to utilize a process as it is in regular, non-Web information systems development. We evaluate the efficacy of an established OO/CBD development process (OPEN), in Web development and propose new and amended activities and tasks that should be included in OPEN to fully, support the new demands of Website construction and the delivery of business value on the Web. Sixteen new tasks are identified together with one new activity. Four subtasks of particular relevance to the interface based on usage centered design are also advocated.

Second generation OO methods, with a few exceptions, contained no elements addressing process or project management. Third generation methods have been defined as those collaborative developments which also have a significant process element. Two examples are the rational unified process (RUP) and object-oriented process, environment and notation (OPEN). We examine RUP and OPEN from a project management viewpoint and evaluate whether either or both would meet acceptable standards in process support, project management guidelines and full lifecycle description for OO software development.

Object-oriented methodologies and processes advise on how a project team can use object technology to create a software-intensive system. While they offer good advice on software development, they are inadequate in terms of how the organization (or the project team) should change its operational culture to one that uses object technology effectively. In other words, while the process of software development is spelled out with these new OO methodologies, what is needed is a process to put this software development process into operation. We describe how such a process can be created and utilized in engendering change management from a traditional to an OO software development culture.

In an interesting paper, L.A. Laranjeira (see ibid., vol.6, no.5, p.510-22, 1990) describes a first attempt to understand cost estimation within an object oriented environment. While the presented approach presents many interesting and useful ideas, it is, unfortunately, marred by several mathematical errors pertaining to statistics, exponential functions, and the nature of discrete vs. continuous data. These are discussed here and more appropriate correct procedures outlined.

Reuse is about more than sharing code. As technology, standards and ideas evolve: so do the artifacts available for reuse. Our understanding of the non-technical issues associated with reuse also progresses. This panel will look at reuse from 5 different perspectives. We will look at the reuse of design patterns and of services in a service-based, distributed architecture as examples of artifacts relatively new to the corporate world. We will also focus on the psychological factors affecting the success of reuse programs along with organizational modifications and measurement techniques that will help make reuse work. Lastly, we will take a look at how certain kinds of reuse can affect the success of a project at the user level, and what this might imply for measuring the effectiveness of our reuse programs. The audience will leave with some concrete ideas about how to implement and measure reuse program as well as new thoughts on what artifacts may be reused.

article Free Access Share on Methodology standards: help or hindrance? Authors: Grady Booch Rational Software Corporation Rational Software CorporationView Profile , Brian Henderson-Sellers University of Technology, Sydney University of Technology, SydneyView Profile , Ivar Jacobson Objective Systems AB Objective Systems ABView Profile , Steve Mellor Project Technology, Inc. Project Technology, Inc.View Profile , James Rumbaugh GE GEView Profile , Rebecca Wirfs-Brock Digitalk DigitalkView Profile , Chairman: David Monarchi University of Colorado, Boulder University of Colorado, BoulderView Profile Authors Info & Claims ACM SIGPLAN NoticesVolume 29Issue 10Oct. 1994 pp 223–228https://doi.org/10.1145/191081.191115Online:01 October 1994Publication History 5citation0DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations5Total Downloads0Last 12 Months0Last 6 weeks0 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF