Empirical Software Engineering

Jeffery, Ross

doi: 10.1023/B:EMSE.0000013532.34898.8cpmid: N/A

Juristo, Natalia; Moreno, Ana; Vegas, Sira

doi: 10.1023/B:EMSE.0000013513.48963.1bpmid: N/A

Mature knowledge allows engineering disciplines the achievement of predictable results. Unfortunately, the type of knowledge used in software engineering can be considered to be of a relatively low maturity, and developers are guided by intuition, fashion or market-speak rather than by facts or undisputed statements proper to an engineering discipline. Testing techniques determine different criteria for selecting the test cases that will be used as input to the system under examination, which means that an effective and efficient selection of test cases conditions the success of the tests. The knowledge for selecting testing techniques should come from studies that empirically justify the benefits and application conditions of the different techniques. This paper analyzes the maturity level of the knowledge about testing techniques by examining existing empirical studies about these techniques. We have analyzed their results, and obtained a testing technique knowledge classification based on their factuality and objectivity, according to four parameters.

Damian, Daniela; Zowghi, Didar; Vaidyanathasamy, Lakshminarayanan; Pal, Yogendra

doi: 10.1023/B:EMSE.0000013514.19567.adpmid: N/A

This paper describes an industrial experience in process improvement at one of the Unisys development labs in Australia. Following a capability maturity model (CMM) mini-assessment, the organization is undertaking significant changes in the requirements management process, which include the introduction of group session approaches to requirements analysis and a structured method for writing requirements. An empirical evaluation which investigated other aspects of the process improvement than the CMM model indicates tangible benefits as well as perceived long-term benefits during design and testing. Findings confirm that a more thorough requirements analysis results in more clearly defined, better understood and specified requirements, and an enhanced ability to address the market needs and product strategy requirements. The catalyst behind these improvements included project management leadership, managing the human dimension, collaboration among stakeholders and senior management support.

Thelin, Thomas; Runeson, Per; Wohlin, Claes; Olsson, Thomas; Andersson, Carina

doi: 10.1023/B:EMSE.0000013515.86806.d4pmid: N/A

Software inspections have been introduced in software engineering in order to detect faults before testing is performed. Reading techniques provide reviewers in software inspections with guidelines on how they should check the documents under inspection. Several reading techniques with different purposes have been introduced and empirically evaluated. In this paper, we describe a reading technique with the special aim to detect faults that are severe from a user’s point of view. The reading technique is named usage-based reading (UBR) and it can be used to inspect all software artefacts. In the series of experiments, a high-level design document is used. The main focus of the paper is on the third experiment, which investigates the information needed for UBR in the individual preparation and the meeting of software inspections. Hence, the paper discusses (1) the series of three experiments of UBR, (2) the individual preparation of the third experiment, and (3) the meeting part of the third experiment. For each of these three parts, results are produced. The main results are (1) UBR is an efficient and effective reading technique that can be used for user-focused software inspections, (2) UBR is more efficient and effective if the information used for UBR is developed prior to, instead of during the individual preparation, and (3) the meeting affects the UBR inspection in terms of increased effectiveness and decreased efficiency. In summary, the empirical evidence shows that UBR is an efficient and effective reading technique to be used by software organizations that produce software for which the user perceived quality is important.

Shull, Forrest; Mendoncça, Manoel; Basili, Victor; Carver, Jeffrey; Maldonado, José; Fabbri, Sandra; Travassos, Guilherme; Ferreira, Maria

doi: 10.1023/B:EMSE.0000013516.80487.33pmid: N/A

Recently the awareness of the importance of replicating studies has been growing in the empirical software engineering community. The results of any one study cannot simply be extrapolated to all environments because there are many uncontrollable sources of variation between different environments.