data science

Feature Usage Diagram for Feature Reduction

Agile Project - An Oxymoron? Proposing an Unproject Leadership Model for Complex Space

Measuring the Success of Software Process Improvement: The Dimensions

Quality managers, change agents and researchers are often troubled in defining and demonstrating the level of success achieved in software process improvement (SPI) initiatives. So far, there exist only few frameworks for identifying the level of success achieved in SPI. Analysis shows that these frameworks do not provide a comprehensive view from all relevant stakeholders involved in SPI. Early results from an ongoing research effort to discover and operationalise success dimensions are reported. Adapted from the project management literature it is suggested that five dimensions characterise the level of success achieved in SPI: (1) project efficiency, (2) impact on the process user, (3) business success, (4) direct operational success and (5) process improvement fit. Results from an empirical analysis are reported where 23 change agents evaluated the relative level of importance of each dimension. Early results indicate that change agents valued the process user satisfaction the most and the process improvement fit the least. This finding confirms the need of having various stakeholders and dimensions acknowledged in a framework that is used to measure the overall success of an SPI initiative.

Software Product Size Measurement Methods: A Systematic Mapping Study

This study presents the results of a systematic mapping study on software size estimation metrics and methods. The methods are investigated based on the entity type(s) measured by the method, size attribute type, size measure(s), and theoretical/empirical validation status of the method, and restriction with respect to functional domain type(s) and software development methodology applicability. Based on the results of the survey, we provide a discussion on the current state of the art in software sizing.

Feature Usage as a Value Indicator for Decision Making

Self-organized Learning in Software Factory: Experiences and Lessons Learned

Performance Alignment Work: How software developers experience the continuous adaptation of team performance in Lean and Agile environments

What Can Software Startuppers Learn from the Artistic Design Flow? Experiences, Reflections and Future Avenues

Perceived Effects of Pair Programming in an Industrial Context

Agile Software Development of Mobile Information Systems

A Comparative Case Study on the Impact of Test-Driven Development on Program Design and Test Coverage

Test-driven development (TDD) is a programming technique in which the tests are written prior to the source code. It is proposed that TDD is one of the most fundamental practices enabling the development of software in an agile and iterative manner. Both the literature and practice suggest that TDD practice yields several benefits. Essentially, it is claimed that TDD leads to an improved software design, which has a dramatic impact on the maintainability and further development of the system. The impact of TDD on program design has seldom come under the researchers' focus. This paper reports the results from a comparative case study of three software development projects where the effect of TDD on program design was measured using object-oriented metrics. The results show that the effect of TDD on program design was not as evident as expected, but the test coverage was significantly superior to iterative test-last development.

Perspectives on Global Software Development: special issue on PROFES 2007

The field of software engineering has evolved significantly over the past decades. It can be argued that software has become the vital element of any system or service. Interestingly, even in the field of automotive industry, 90% of recent innovations stem from software and electronics (ITEA2 2005). Ever since the classic NATO conference in 1968, however, software has been argued to be in some state of crisis. From the 1990s, the crisis has been labeled as a chronic one. It is quite evident that several attempts to improve the state of software industry have taken place with varying levels of success. Software process improvement approaches have been developed since many decades ago. The results have been impressive, on the one hand, but many problems still exist. As an example, the business impact of software process improvement endeavors has been difficult to pinpoint, several of the improvement initiatives appear to fall short of their goals, and overemphasis on comparing processes with fixed reference models may lead an organization astray regarding the product or service perspective. The Profes conference series was established in 1999 to provide a venue for industry and academia to present and discuss the shift from model-based improvement to a product-oriented perspective in the field of software engineering and software process improvement. This includes a context-oriented understanding of the process-product relationships. Recently, the focus in practice and, consequently, in research has been on viewing software development as a global endeavor rather than a local one. There are several reasons for this. To name but a few: The distribution of software development enables the optimum use of competence regardless of the geographical location. The large software-intensive organizations operate in the global space and market, which makes distribution a necessity rather than a choice. On the positive side, distribution enables the development of software and services close to the prominent market area. Despite these relatively clear advantages and 2 benefits, global software development has brought with it several challenges due to increased complexity and cultural as well as technology issues. These challenges are now being tackled by means of research taking place in Europe and elsewhere as witnessed by this special issue of Profes conference research papers. Profes Conference series was established at the end of European IST project called PROFES (PROduct Focused Software process improvement) for disseminating the research results of the project area to industry. The PROFES Consortium included …