A component library to improve the reusability in the development of converged services

The evolution of communications networks to Next Generation Networks (NGN) has encouraged the development of new services. Nowadays, several technologies are being integrated into telecommunications services in order to provide new functionalities, resulting in what are known as converged services. The objective is to adapt the behavior of the services to the necessities of different users, generating customized services. Some of the main technologies involved in their development are those related to the Web. But due to this type of services implies the combination of different technologies, their development is a very complex process that has to be improved to reduce the time and cost required, with the aim of promoting the success of such services. This paper proposes to apply software reuse through the utilization of a component library and presents one focused on ECharts for SIP Servlets (E4SS). It is a framework, based on the SIP Servlet specification, which uses finite state machines for the definition of converged communications services. Also, to promote the use of the library, a methodology is proposed in order to facilitate the integration between the library operations and the software development cycle.

What do we know about successful software project factors

This dissertation discusses how different practitioners define project success and success factors for software projects and products. The motivation for this work is to identify the way software practitioners’ value and define project success. This can have implications for both practitioner motivation and software development productivity. Accordingly, in this work, we are interested in the various perceptions of the term “success” for different software practitioners and researchers. To get this information we performed a systematic mapping of the recent year’s software development literature trying to identify stakeholders’ perceptions about the success of a project and also possible differences among the views of the various stakeholders of a project. Some common terms related to project success (success project; software project success factors) were considered in formulating the search strings. The results were limited to twenty-two selected peer-reviewed conferences, papers/journal articles, published between 2003 and 2012.

FPLA: a modeling framework for describing flexible software product line architecture

Nowadays, Software Product Line (SPL) engineering [1] has been widely-adopted in software development due to the significant improvements that has provided, such as reducing cost and time-to-market and providing flexibility to respond to planned changes [2]. SPL takes advantage of common features among the products of a family through the systematic reuse of the core-assets and the effective management of variabilities across the products. SPL features are realized at the architectural level in product-line architecture (PLA) models. Therefore, suitable modeling and specification techniques are required to model variability. In fact, architectural variability modeling has become a challenge for SPLE due to the fact that PLA modeling requires not only modeling variability at the level of the external architecture configuration (see [3,4] literature reviews), but also at the level of internal specification of components [5]. In addition, PLA modeling requires preserving the traceability between features and PLAs. Finally, it is important to take into account that PLA modeling should guide architects in modeling the PLA core assets and variability, and in deriving the customized products. To deal with these needs, we present in this demonstration the FPLA Modeling Framework.

Mandate M 376: new software accessibility requirements

Software needs to be accessible for persons with disabilities and there are several guidelines to assist developers in building more accessible software. Regulation activities are beginning to make the accessibility of software a mandatory requirement in some countries. One such activity is the European Mandate M 376, which will result in a European standard (EN 301 549) defining functional accessibility requirements for information and communication technology products and services. This paper provides an overview of Mandate M 376 and EN 301 549, and describes the requirements for software accessibility defined in EN 301 549, according to a feature-based approach

Including functional usability features in a Model-Driven Development Method

The Software Engineering (SE) community has historically focused on working with models to represent functionality and persistence, pushing interaction modelling into the background, which has been covered by the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community. Recently, adequately modelling interaction, and specifically usability, is being considered as a key factor for success in user acceptance, making the integration of the SE and HCI communities more necessary. If we focus on the Model-Driven Development (MDD) paradigm, we notice that there is a lack of proposals to deal with usability features from the very first steps of software development process. In general, usability features are manually implemented once the code has been generated from models. This contradicts the MDD paradigm, which claims that all the analysts? effort must be focused on building models, and the code generation is relegated to model to code transformations. Moreover, usability features related to functionality may involve important changes in the system architecture if they are not considered from the early steps. We state that these usability features related to functionality can be represented abstractly in a conceptual model, and their implementation can be carried out automatically.

MIA - a free and open source software for gray scale medical image analysis

Background Gray scale images make the bulk of data in bio-medical image analysis, and hence, the main focus of many image processing tasks lies in the processing of these monochrome images. With ever improving acquisition devices, spatial and temporal image resolution increases, and data sets become very large. Various image processing frameworks exists that make the development of new algorithms easy by using high level programming languages or visual programming. These frameworks are also accessable to researchers that have no background or little in software development because they take care of otherwise complex tasks. Specifically, the management of working memory is taken care of automatically, usually at the price of requiring more it. As a result, processing large data sets with these tools becomes increasingly difficult on work station class computers. One alternative to using these high level processing tools is the development of new algorithms in a languages like C++, that gives the developer full control over how memory is handled, but the resulting workflow for the prototyping of new algorithms is rather time intensive, and also not appropriate for a researcher with little or no knowledge in software development. Another alternative is in using command line tools that run image processing tasks, use the hard disk to store intermediate results, and provide automation by using shell scripts. Although not as convenient as, e.g. visual programming, this approach is still accessable to researchers without a background in computer science. However, only few tools exist that provide this kind of processing interface, they are usually quite task specific, and don’t provide an clear approach when one wants to shape a new command line tool from a prototype shell script. Results The proposed framework, MIA, provides a combination of command line tools, plug-ins, and libraries that make it possible to run image processing tasks interactively in a command shell and to prototype by using the according shell scripting language. Since the hard disk becomes the temporal storage memory management is usually a non-issue in the prototyping phase. By using string-based descriptions for filters, optimizers, and the likes, the transition from shell scripts to full fledged programs implemented in C++ is also made easy. In addition, its design based on atomic plug-ins and single tasks command line tools makes it easy to extend MIA, usually without the requirement to touch or recompile existing code. Conclusion In this article, we describe the general design of MIA, a general purpouse framework for gray scale image processing. We demonstrated the applicability of the software with example applications from three different research scenarios, namely motion compensation in myocardial perfusion imaging, the processing of high resolution image data that arises in virtual anthropology, and retrospective analysis of treatment outcome in orthognathic surgery. With MIA prototyping algorithms by using shell scripts that combine small, single-task command line tools is a viable alternative to the use of high level languages, an approach that is especially useful when large data sets need to be processed.

Gestión de configuración y línea de productos para mejorar el proceso experimental en ingeniería del software

La Ingeniería del Software (IS) Empírica adopta el método científico a la IS para facilitar la generación de conocimiento. Una de las técnicas empleadas, es la realización de experimentos. Para que el conocimiento obtenido experimentalmente adquiera el nivel de madurez necesario para su posterior uso, es necesario que los experimentos sean replicados. La existencia de múltiples replicaciones de un mismo experimento conlleva la existencia de numerosas versiones de los distintos productos generados durante la realización de cada replicación. Actualmente existe un gran descontrol sobre estos productos, ya que la administración se realiza de manera informal. Esto causa problemas a la hora de planificar nuevas replicaciones, o intentar obtener información sobre las replicaciones ya realizadas. Para conocer con detalle la dimensión del problema a resolver, se estudia el estado actual de la gestión de materiales experimentales y su uso en replicaciones, así como de las herramientas de gestión de materiales experimentales. El estudio concluye que ninguno de los enfoques estudiados proporciona una solución al problema planteado. Este trabajo persigue como objetivo mejorar la administración de los materiales experimentales y replicaciones de experimentos en IS para dar soporte a la replicación de experimentos. Para satisfacer este objetivo, se propone la adopción en experimentación de los paradigmas de Gestión de Configuración del Software (GCS) y Línea de Producto Software (LPS). Para desarrollar la propuesta se decide utilizar el método de investigación acción (en inglés action research). Para adoptar la GCS a experimentación, se comienza realizando un estudio del proceso experimental como transformación de productos; a continuación, se realiza una adopción de conceptos fundamentada en los procesos del desarrollo software y de experimentación; finalmente, se desarrollan un conjunto de instrumentos, que se incorporan a un Plan de Gestión de Configuración de Experimentos (PGCE). Para adoptar la LPS a experimentación, se comienza realizando un estudio de los conceptos, actividades y fases que fundamentan la LPS; a continuación, se realiza una adopción de los conceptos; finalmente, se desarrollan o adoptan las técnicas, simbología y modelos para dar soporte a las fases de la Línea de Producto para Experimentación (LPE). La propuesta se valida mediante la evaluación de su: viabilidad, flexibilidad, usabilidad y satisfacción. La viabilidad y flexibilidad se evalúan mediante la instanciación del PGCE y de la LPE en experimentos concretos en IS. La usabilidad se evalúa mediante el uso de la propuesta para la generación de las instancias del PGCE y de LPE. La satisfacción evalúa la información sobre el experimento que contiene el PGCE y la LPE. Los resultados de la validación de la propuesta muestran mejores resultados en los aspectos de usabilidad y satisfacción a los experimentadores. ABSTRACT Empirical software engineering adapts the scientific method to software engineering (SE) in order to facilitate knowledge generation. Experimentation is one of the techniques used. For the knowledge generated experimentally to acquire the level of maturity necessary for later use, the experiments have to be replicated. As the same experiment is replicated more than once, there are numerous versions of all the products generated during a replication. These products are generally administered informally without control. This is troublesome when it comes to planning new replications or trying to gather information on replications conducted in the past. In order to grasp the size of the problem to be solved, this research examines the current state of the art of the management and use of experimental materials in replications, as well as the tools managing experimental materials. The study concludes that none of the analysed approaches provides a solution to the stated problem. The aim of this research is to improve the administration of SE experimental materials and experimental replications in support of experiment replication. To do this, we propose the adaptation of software configuration management (SCM) and software product line (SPL) paradigms to experimentation. The action research method was selected in order to develop this proposal. The first step in the adaptation of the SCM to experimentation was to analyse the experimental process from the viewpoint of the transformation of products. The concepts were then adapted based on software development and experimentation processes. Finally, a set of instruments were developed and added to an experiment configuration management plan (ECMP). The first step in the adaptation of the SPL to experimentation is to analyse the concepts, activities and phases underlying the SPL. The concepts are then adapted. Finally, techniques, symbols and models are developed or adapted in support of the experimentation product line (EPL) phases. The proposal is validated by evaluating its feasibility, flexibility, usability and satisfaction. Feasibility and flexibility are evaluated by instantiating the ECMP and the EPL in specific SE experiments. Usability is evaluated by using the proposal to generate the instances of the ECMP and EPL. The results of the validation of the proposal show that the proposal performs better with respect to usability issues and experimenter satisfaction.

From Analysis Model to Software Architecture: a PIM2PIM Mapping.

To our knowledge, no current software development methodology explicitly describes how to transit from the analysis model to the software architecture of the application. This paper presents a method to derive the software architecture of a system from its analysis model. To do this, we are going to use MDA. Both the analysis model and the architectural model are PIMs described with UML 2. The model type mapping designed consists of several rules (expressed using OCL and natural language) that, when applied to the analysis artifacts, generate the software architecture of the application. Specifically the rules act on elements of the UML 2 metamodel (metamodel mapping). We have developed a tool (using Smalltalk) that permits the automatic application of these rules to an analysis model defined in RoseTM to generate the application architecture expressed in the architectural style C2.

Three-dimensional mapping of real environments for cognitive robots navigation

Abstract The development of cognitive robots needs a strong “sensorial” support which should allow it to perceive the real world for interacting with it properly. Therefore the development of efficient visual-processing software to be equipped in effective artificial agents is a must. In this project we study and develop a visual-processing software that will work as the “eyes” of a cognitive robot. This software performs a three-dimensional mapping of the robot’s environment, providing it with the essential information required to make proper decisions during its navigation. Due to the complexity of this objective we have adopted the Scrum methodology in order to achieve an agile development process, which has allowed us to correct and improve in a fast way the successive versions of the product. The present project is structured in Sprints, which cover the different stages of the software development based on the requirements imposed by the robot and its real necessities. We have initially explored different commercial devices oriented to the acquisition of the required visual information, adopting the Kinect Sensor camera (Microsoft) as the most suitable option. Later on, we have studied the available software to manage the obtained visual information as well as its integration with the robot’s software, choosing the high-level platform Matlab as the common nexus to join the management of the camera, the management of the robot and the implementation of the behavioral algorithms. During the last stages the software has been developed to include the fundamental functionalities required to process the real environment, such as depth representation, segmentation, and clustering. Finally the software has been optimized to exhibit real-time processing and a suitable performance to fulfill the robot’s requirements during its operation in real situations.

Diseño de una metodología CASE de desarrollo de software

En la actualidad existe una gran expectación ante la introducción de nuevas herramientas y métodos para el desarrollo de productos software, que permitirán en un futuro próximo un planteamiento de ingeniería del proceso de producción software. Las nuevas metodologías que empiezan a esbozarse suponen un enfoque integral del problema abarcando todas las fases del esquema productivo. Sin embargo el grado de automatización conseguido en el proceso de construcción de sistemas es muy bajo y éste está centrado en las últimas fases del ciclo de vida del software, consiguiéndose así una reducción poco significativa de sus costes y, lo que es aún más importante, sin garantizar la calidad de los productos software obtenidos. Esta tesis define una metodología de desarrollo software estructurada que se puede automatizar, es decir una metodología CASE. La metodología que se presenta se ajusta al modelo de ciclo de desarrollo CASE, que consta de las fases de análisis, diseño y pruebas; siendo su ámbito de aplicación los sistemas de información. Se establecen inicialmente los principios básicos sobre los que la metodología CASE se asienta. Posteriormente, y puesto que la metodología se inicia con la fijación de los objetivos de la empresa que demanda un sistema informático, se emplean técnicas que sirvan de recogida y validación de la información, que proporcionan a la vez un lenguaje de comunicación fácil entre usuarios finales e informáticos. Además, estas mismas técnicas detallarán de una manera completa, consistente y sin ambigüedad todos los requisitos del sistema. Asimismo, se presentan un conjunto de técnicas y algoritmos para conseguir que desde la especificación de requisitos del sistema se logre una automatización tanto del diseño lógico del Modelo de Procesos como del Modelo de Datos, validados ambos conforme a la especificación de requisitos previa. Por último se definen unos procedimientos formales que indican el conjunto de actividades a realizar en el proceso de construcción y cómo llevarlas a cabo, consiguiendo de esta manera una integridad en las distintas etapas del proceso de desarrollo.---ABSTRACT---Nowdays there is a great expectation with regard to the introduction of new tools and methods for the software products development that, in the very near future will allow, an engineering approach in the software development process. New methodologies, just emerging, imply an integral approach to the problem, including all the productive scheme stages. However, the automatization degree obtained in the systems construction process is very low and focused on the last phases of the software lifecycle, which means that the costs reduction obtained is irrelevant and, which is more important, the quality of the software products is not guaranteed. This thesis defines an structured software development methodology that can be automated, that is a CASE methodology. Such a methodology is adapted to the CASE development cycle-model, which consists in analysis, design and testing phases, being the information systems its field of application. Firstly, we present the basic principies on which CASE methodology is based. Secondly, since the methodology starts from fixing the objectives of the company demanding the automatization system, we use some techniques that are useful for gathering and validating the information, being at the same time an easy communication language between end-users and developers. Indeed, these same techniques will detail completely, consistently and non ambiguously all the system requirements. Likewise, a set of techniques and algorithms are shown in order to obtain, from the system requirements specification, an automatization of the Process Model logical design, and of the Data Model logical design. Those two models are validated according to the previous requirement specification. Finally, we define several formal procedures that suggest which set of activities to be accomplished in the construction process, and how to carry them out, getting in this way integrity and completness for the different stages of the development process.

The usefulness of Usability and User Experience evaluation methods on an e-Learning platform development from a developer's perspective: A case study

The development of a web platform is a complex and interdisciplinary task, where people with different roles such as project manager, designer or developer participate. Different usability and User Experience evaluation methods can be used in each stage of the development life cycle, but not all of them have the same influence in the software development and in the final product or system. This article presents the study of the impact of these methods applied in the context of an e-Learning platform development. The results show that the impact has been strong from a developer's perspective. Developer team members considered that usability and User Experience evaluation allowed them mainly to identify design mistakes, improve the platform's usability and understand the end users and their needs in a better way. Interviews with potential users, clickmaps and scrollmaps were rated as the most useful methods. Finally, these methods were considered unanimously very useful in the context of the entire software development, only comparable to SCRUM meetings and overcoming the rest of involved factors.

Are team personality and climate related to satisfaction and software quality? Aggregating results from a twice replicated experiment

Research into software engineering teams focuses on human and social team factors. Social psychology deals with the study of team formation and has found that personality factors and group processes such as team climate are related to team effectiveness. However, there are only a handful of empirical studies dealing with personality and team climate and their relationship to software development team effectiveness. Objective We present aggregate results of a twice replicated quasi-experiment that evaluates the relationships between personality, team climate, product quality and satisfaction in software development teams. Method Our experimental study measures the personalities of team members based on the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) and team climate factors (participative safety, support for innovation, team vision and task orientation) preferences and perceptions. We aggregate the results of the three studies through a meta-analysis of correlations. The study was conducted with students. Results The aggregation of results from the baseline experiment and two replications corroborates the following findings. There is a positive relationship between all four climate factors and satisfaction in software development teams. Teams whose members score highest for the agreeableness personality factor have the highest satisfaction levels. The results unveil a significant positive correlation between the extraversion personality factor and software product quality. High participative safety and task orientation climate perceptions are significantly related to quality. Conclusions First, more efficient software development teams can be formed heeding personality factors like agreeableness and extraversion. Second, the team climate generated in software development teams should be monitored for team member satisfaction. Finally, aspects like people feeling safe giving their opinions or encouraging team members to work hard at their job can have an impact on software quality. Software project managers can take advantage of these factors to promote developer satisfaction and improve the resulting product.

Desarrollo de software sobre entornos PaaS: revisión general, nuevas perspectivas y desafíos para la ingeniería de software

El uso de la computación en la nube ofrece un nuevo paradigma que procura proporcionar servicios informáticos para los cuales no es necesario contar con grandes infraestructuras y sobre todo, con las complejidades de costos, seguridad y mantenimiento implícitas. Si bien se ha posicionado en los últimos años como una plataforma innovadora en el ámbito de la tecnología de consumo masivo y organizacional, también puede ser tópico de investigación importante en ciertas áreas de interés como el desarrollo de Software, presentando en ese campo, una serie de ventajas y retos estimulantes que pueden ser explorados. Este trabajo de investigación, sigue con dicho sentido, el objetivo de exponer la situación actual sobre el empleo de la computación en la nube como entorno de desarrollo de Software, sectorizando a través de su capa PaaS, el modelo conceptual de trabajo, las perspectivas recientes, problemas e implicaciones generales del uso de ésta como herramienta plausible en proyectos de desarrollo de Software. El análisis de los diferentes temas abordados, tiene la intención en general, de proporcionar información objetiva, crítica y cuantitativa sobre la concentración de la investigación relacionada a PaaS, así como un marco de interpretación reciente que aporte una perspectiva referencial para futuras investigaciones asociadas.---ABSTRACT---The use of cloud computing offers a new paradigm to provide computer services for which it is not necessary to have large infrastructure and especially with the complexities of cost, safety and maintenance implied. While it has positioned itself in recent years as an innovative platform in the field of technology and massive organizational consumption, can also be an important research topic in certain areas of interest including, the development of Software, presenting in this field, a series of advantages, disadvantages and stimulating challenges that can be explored. This research, following with that sense, try to present the current situation related to the use of cloud computing as a software development environment, through its sectorized PaaS layer, showing the conceptual working model, actual perspectives, problems and general implications of using this as a possible tool in Software development projects. The analysis of the different topics covered, intends in a general form, provide objective, critical and quantitative information about the concentration of research related to PaaS, and a recent interpretation framework to provide a referential perspective for future related researches.

Understanding sprint velocity fluctuations for improved project plans with Scrum: a case study

Starting from the documentation of high sprint velocity fluctuations in a Scrum project, this paper presents a thorough approach to identify the sources of issues arising in the context of Scrum implementation. Given that Scrum provides guidance on identifying process issues but not their root causes, various approaches are explored. This is of great relevance because Scrum defines project schedules relying heavily on sprint velocity and because it is the most widely used agile methodology. The findings provide a new approach to evaluate such fluctuations and establish a more realistic project assessment than what is currently defined by Scrum. In this respect, this paper contributes to improve the understanding of the software development process using this agile framework.

Monitorización de la integración de sistemas intensivos software

El software se ha convertido en el eje central del mundo actual, una compleja creación humana que influye en la vida, negocios y comunicación de todas las personas pertenecientes a la Sociedad de la Información. El rápido crecimiento experimentado en el ámbito del desarrollo software ha permitido la creación de avanzadas estructuras tecnológicas, denominadas “Sistemas Intensivos Software”, capaces de comunicarse con otros sistemas, dispositivos, sensores y personas. A lo largo de los próximos años los sistemas se enfrentarán a una mayor complejidad, surgida de la necesidad de operar en entornos de grandes dimensiones y de comportamientos no deterministas. Los métodos y herramientas actuales no son lo suficientemente potentes para diseñar, construir,implementar y mantener sistemas intensivos software con estas características, y detener la construcción de sistemas intensivos software o construir sistemas poco flexibles o fiables no es una alternativa real. En el desarrollo de “Sistemas Intensivos Software” pueden llegar a intervenir distintas entidades o compañías software que suelen estar en ubicaciones geográficas distintas y constituidas por grandes equipos de desarrollo, multidisciplinares e incluso multilingües. Debido a la criticidad del resultado de las actividades realizadas de forma independiente en el sistema resultante, éstas se han de controlar y monitorizar para asegurar la correcta integración de todos los elementos del sistema completo. El objetivo de este proyecto es la creación de una herramienta software para dar soporte a la gestión y monitorización de la construcción e integración de sistemas intensivos software, siendo extensible también a proyectos de otra índole. La herramienta resultante se denomina Positioning System, una aplicación web del tipo SPA (Single Page Application) creada con tecnología de última generación como el framework JavaScript AngularJS y tecnología de back-end como SlimPHP. Positioning System provee la funcionalidad necesaria para la creación de proyectos, familias y subfamilias de productos que constituyen los productos software de los proyectos creados, así como la gestión de socios comerciales y gestión de contactos de dichos proyectos. Todas estas funcionalidades son fácilmente monitorizadas y controladas por gráficos estadísticos generados para cada proyecto. ABSTRACT Software has become the backbone of today’s world, a complex human creation that has an important impact in the life, business and communication of all people involved with the Information Society. The quick growth that software development has undergone for last years has enabled the creation of advanced technological structures called “Software Intensive Systems”. They are able to communicate with other systems, devices, sensors and people. Next years, systems will face more complexity. It arises from the need of operating systems of large dimensions with non-deterministic behaviors. Current methods and tools are not powerful enough to design, build, implement and maintain software intensive systems; however stopping the development or developing unreliable and non-flexible systems is not a real alternative. Software Intensive Systems” development may involve different entities or software companies which may be in different geographical locations and may be constituted by large, multidisciplinary and even multilingual development teams. Due to the criticality of the result of each conducted activity, independently in the resulting system, these activities must be controlled and monitored to ensure the proper integration of all the elements within the complete system. The goal of this project is the creation of a software tool to support the management and monitoring of the construction and integration of software intensive systems, being possible to be extended to other kind of projects. The resultant tool is called Positioning System, a web application that follows the SPA (Single Page Application) style. It was created with the latest technologies, such as, the AngularJS framework and SlimPHP. The Positioning System provides the necessary features for the creation of projects, families and subfamilies of products that constitute the software products of the created projects, as well as the management of business partners and contacts of these projects. All these features are easily monitored and controlled by statistical graphs generated for each project.