[AISWorld] Contents of Requirements Engineering Journal Vol. 15 Issue 2

Tue Jun 15 15:31:20 EDT 2010

Requirements Engineering Journal
http://www.springer.com/computer/swe/journal/766

Published Quarterly in Print and Electronically
ISSN: 0947-3602
Published by Springer
ISI Impact Factor: 1.625

PAPER 1: Visual syntax does matter: improving the cognitive effectiveness of the i* visual notation

AUTHORS: Daniel L. Moody • Patrick Heymans • Raimundas Matulevičius

ABSTRACT: Goal-oriented modelling is one of the most important research developments in the requirements engineering (RE) field. This paper conducts a systematic analysis of the visual syntax of i*, one of the leading goaloriented languages. Like most RE notations, i* is highly visual. Yet surprisingly, there has been little debate about or modification to its graphical conventions since it was proposed more than a decade ago. We evaluate the i* visual notation using a set of principles for designing cognitively effective visual notations (the Physics of Notations). The analysis reveals some serious flaws in the notation together with some practical recommendations for improvement. The results can be used to improve its effectiveness in practice, particularly for communicating with end users. A broader goal of the paper is to raise awareness about the importance of visual representation in RE research, which has historically received little attention.

Keywords : Goal modelling _ i* _ Visualisation _ Visual syntax _ Evaluation _ Visual notation _ Visual language

http://www.springerlink.com/content/2p58r27100r172g6/fulltext.pdf

PAPER 2: RELAX: a language to address uncertainty in self-adaptive systems requirement

AUTHORS: Jon Whittle • Pete Sawyer • Nelly Bencomo • Betty H. C. Cheng • Jean-Michel Bruel

ABSTRACT: Self-adaptive systems have the capability to autonomously modify their behavior at run-time in response to changes in their environment. Self-adaptation is particularly  necessary for applications that must run continuously, even under adverse conditions and changing requirements; sample domains include automotive systems, telecommunications, and environmental monitoring systems. While a few techniques have been developed to support the monitoring and analysis of requirements for adaptive systems, limited attention has been paid to the actual creation and specification of requirements of self-adaptive systems. As a result, self adaptivity is often constructed in an ad-hoc manner. In order to support the rigorous specification of adaptive systems requirements, this paper introduces RELAX, a new requirements language for self-adaptive systems that explicitly addresses uncertainty inherent in adaptive systems. We present the formal semantics for RELAX in terms of fuzzy logic, thus enabling a rigorous treatment of requirements that include uncertainty. RELAX enables developers to identify uncertainty in the requirements, thereby facilitating the design of systems that are, by definition, more flexible and amenable to adaptation in a systematic fashion. We illustrate the use of RELAX on smart home applications, including an adaptive assisted living system.

Keywords : Adaptive systems _ Requirements engineering _ Fuzzy logic _ Smart homes _ Uncertainty

http://www.springerlink.com/content/f3502m7882822411/fulltext.pdf

PAPER 3: Modeling and detecting semantic-based interactions in aspect-oriented scenarios

AUTHORS: Gunter Mussbacher • Jon Whittle • Daniel Amyot

ABSTRACT: Interactions between dependent or conflicting aspects are a well-known problem with aspect-oriented development (as well as related paradigms). These interactions are potentially dangerous and can lead to unexpected or incorrect results when aspects are composed. To date, the majority of aspect interaction detection methods either have been based on purely syntactic comparisons or have relied on heavyweight formal methods. We present a new approach that is based instead on lightweight semantic annotations of aspects. Each aspect is annotated with domain-specific markers and a separate influence model describes how semantic markers from different domains influence each other. Automated analysis can then be used both to highlight semantic aspect conflicts and to trade-off aspects. We apply this technique to early aspects, namely, aspect scenarios, because it is desirable to detect aspect interactions as early in the software lifecycle as possible. We evaluate the technique using two case studies—one from industry and one posed as a challenge problem by the community—and show that the technique detects interactions that cannot be discovered using syntactic techniques. In addition, we show that the technique can apply to many languages through the use of different aspect-oriented

Keywords : Aspects _ Goal-oriented Requirement Language _ Interaction detection _ Semantic interactions _ MATA _ Sequence diagrams _ UML _ User Requirements Notation _ Aspect-oriented Use Case Maps

http://www.springerlink.com/content/n6516567v8457np2/fulltext.pdf

PAPER 4: A controlled experiment to assess the impact of system architectures on new system requirements

AUTHORS: Remo Ferrari • James A. Miller • Nazim H. Madhavji

ABSTRACT: While much research attention has been paid to transitioning from requirements to software architectures, relatively little attention has been paid to how new requirements are affected by an existing system architecture. Specifically, no scientific studies have been conducted on the ‘‘characteristic’’ differences between the newly elicited requirements gathered in the presence or absence of an existing software architecture. This paper describes an exploratory controlled study investigating such requirements characteristics. We identify a multitude of characteristics (e.g., end-user focus, technological focus, and importance) that were affected by the presence or absence of an SA, together with the extent of this effect. Furthermore, we identify the specific aspects of the architecture that had an impact on the characteristics. The study results have implications for RE process engineering, postrequirements analysis, requirements engineering tools, traceability management, and future empirical work in RE based on several emergent hypotheses resultant from this study.

Keywords : Requirements engineering _ Software architecture _ Empirical study _ Controlled study _Software engineering _ Software process

http://www.springerlink.com/content/7728g351m855kwg6/fulltext.pdf

PAPER 5: Deconstructing the semantics of big-step modelling languages

AUTHORS: Shahram Esmaeilsabzali • Nancy A. Day • Joanne M. Atlee • Jianwei Niu

ABSTRACT: With the popularity of model-driven methodologies and the abundance of modelling languages, a major question for a requirements engineer is: which language is suitable for modelling a system under study? We address this question from a semantic point-of-view for big-step modelling languages (BSMLs). BSMLs are a class of popular behavioural modelling languages in which a model can respond to an input by executing multiple transitions, possibly concurrently. We deconstruct the operational semantics of a large class of BSMLs into eight high-level, mostly orthogonal semantic aspects and their common semantic options. We analyse the characteristics of each semantic option. We use feature diagrams to present the design space of BSML semantics that arises from our deconstruction, as well as to taxonomize the syntactic features of BSMLs that exhibit semantic variations. We enumerate the dependencies between syntactic and semantic features. We also discuss the effects of certain combinations of semantic options when used together in a BSML semantics. Our goal is to empower a requirements engineer to compare and choose an appropriate BSML from the plethora of existing BSMLs, or to articulate the semantic features of a new desired BSML when such a BSML does not exist.

Keywords: Big-step modelling languages _ Semantics of modelling languages _ Model-driven development _ Domain-specific modelling languages _ Statecharts _UML StateMachines

http://www.springerlink.com/content/p54m02g874339734/fulltext.pdf

__________________________
Pericles Loucopoulos
Professor of Information Systems
Management Science and Information Systems Group
Business School
Loughborough University
Loughborough, LE11 3TU
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1509 22 8273
Fax: +44 (0)1509 22 3962
email: p.loucopoulos at lboro.ac.uk
web: http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~bspl

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