A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability

Egyed, Alexander; Biffl, Stefan; Heindl, Matthias; GrÃ¼nbacher, Paul

doi:10.1145/1107656.1107658

A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability

by Alexander Egyed, Stefan Biffl, Matthias Heindl, Paul GrÃ¼nbacher

Abstract:

Many software development standards mandate establishing trace links among software artifacts such as requirements, architectural elements, or source code. However, for typical real-world systems it is currently too expensive and error prone to generate highly detailed trace links. We previously developed an approach to semi-automatically generate trace links and analyzed cost-benefit trade-offs in this context. We consider it as imperative to include value considerations into planning the generation of trace dependencies. This paper discusses three key trade-off decisions for planning the trace generation process: (a) the level of detail of traces among artifacts; (b) the value of the artifacts that are traced; and (c) the points in time of trace generation (early vs. late). We present cost-benefit considerations, empirical data, and argue for a pragmatic value-based planning approach.

Reference:

Alexander Egyed, Stefan Biffl, Matthias Heindl, Paul GrÃ¼nbacher, "A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability", ACM, Long Beach, CA, pp. 2-7, 2005.

Bibtex Entry:

@Workshop{DBLP:conf/kbse/EgyedBHG05a,
  Title                    = {A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability},
  Author                   = {Alexander Egyed and Stefan Biffl and Matthias Heindl and Paul GrÃ¼nbacher},
  Booktitle                = {Proceedings 3rd Int'l Workshop on Traceability in Emerging Forms of Software Engineering (TEFSE 2005), Long Beach, CA},
  Year                     = {2005},

  Abstract                 = {Many software development standards mandate establishing trace links among software artifacts such as requirements, architectural elements, or source code. However, for typical real-world systems it is currently too expensive and error prone to generate highly detailed trace links. We previously developed an approach to semi-automatically generate trace links and analyzed cost-benefit trade-offs in this context. We consider it as imperative to include value considerations into planning the generation of trace dependencies. This paper discusses three key trade-off decisions for planning the trace generation process: (a) the level of detail of traces among artifacts; (b) the value of the artifacts that are traced; and (c) the points in time of trace generation (early vs. late). We present cost-benefit considerations, empirical data, and argue for a pragmatic value-based planning approach.},
  Address                  = {Long Beach, CA},
  Editor                   = {Maletic, Jonathan I. and Antonio, Giuliano and Cleland-Huang, Jane and Huffman Hayes, Jane},
  Pages                    = {2-7},
  Publisher                = {ACM},

  Doi                      = {10.1145/1107656.1107658},
  File                     = {A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability:Workshops\\TEFSE 2005 - A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Trade-Offs among Trace Links\\A Value-Based Approach for Understanding Trade-Offs During Automated Software Traceability.pdf:PDF},
  Keywords                 = {requirements, traceability},
  Owner                    = {paul},
  Timestamp                = {2015.09.12}
}