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A Use-case-based Methodology for Situational Method Engineering (SME)

Zakeri Fard, Hanieh | 2014

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 46163 (19)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Computer Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Ramsin, Raman
  7. Abstract:
  8. After using software development methodologies for decades, developers have realized that there is no general-purpose methodology that suits every project situation. The need for project-specific methodologies has resulted in the emergence of Situational Method Engineering (SME), which focuses on the construction/adaptation of a methodology according to the specific characteristics of the project at hand. In this approach, the first step is to precisely define the project situation and methodology requirements, based on which the target methodology will then be constructed. Requirements Engineering (RE) in SME is concerned with the elicitation, specification, modeling and validation of methodology requirements, and is considered a key activity in any SME process. However, unlike requirements engineering in software development, the RE methods currently practiced in SME are still immature; methodology engineering has a lot to learn from software engineering in this regard. Use Cases are widely used in software engineering to capture the functional requirements of software systems. In a use-case-based specification of the requirements, interactions between the system and external actors are defined by providing step-by-step accounts of the activities performed by the system and the actors in typical usage cases of the system. The use case model thus produced is an effective means for capturing stakeholder requirements in a clearly understandable and unambiguous fashion. Despite its potential benefits, the use-case-based approach has never been used in SME before. The main objective of this research was to present a use-case-based methodology for situational method engineering; in this approach, methodology requirements are completely expressed in terms of use cases, and then these use cases are utilized in a SME process for developing the target methodology. To this aim, the research previously conducted on requirements engineering in SME has first been studied. A use-case-based process for RE in SME has then been defined, based on which we have developed the UCDMD (Use-Case-Driven Methodology Development) method for situational method engineering. UCDMD is not only a use-case-driven SME methodology, but it is also fully object-oriented; since all the deliverables produced are object-oriented in nature, they can be reused for developing software tool support for the target methodology. The validity of the proposed methodology has been assessed based on special evaluation criteria, and also through a case study
  9. Keywords:
  10. Requirements Engineering ; Situational Method Engineering ; Use-Cax-Driven Development

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