Brian Lings

A reference model for successful Distributed Development of Software Systems

Distributed development (DD) of software systems is an issue of increasing significance for organisations today, all the more so given the current trend towards globalisation. In this paper we present a reference model which can be used as a reference point for any company wishing to review their own DD scenario. This is particularised in two forms, one as an exemplar model for a global (GSD) development scenario and one as a particularisation of this for intra-national DD scenarios. By drawing from eight case-studies on DD, we present ten general strategies for successful DD together with our reference model which characterises an ideal DD situation.

Linking Model-Driven Development and Software Architecture: A Case Study

A basic premise of model driven development (MDD) is to capture all important design information in a set of formal or semi-formal models which are then automatically kept consistent by tools. The concept however is still relatively immature and there is little by way of empirically validated guidelines. In this paper we report on the use of MDD on a significant real-world project over several years. Our research found the MDD approach to be deficient in terms of modelling architectural design rules. Furthermore, the current body of literature does not offer a satisfactory solution as to how architectural design rules should be modelled. As a result developers have to rely on time-consuming and error-prone manual practices to keep a system consistent with its architecture. To realise the full benefits of MDD it is important to find ways of formalizing architectural design rules which then allow automatic enforcement of the architecture on the system model. Without this, architectural enforcement will remain a bottleneck in large MDD projects.

Open source in Swedish companies: where are we?

Open Source (OS) is a phenomenon of increasing significance for organizations, offering the prospect of effective alternative business solutions and new business opportunities. A number of surveys have been conducted in various countries with the purpose of understanding the state of practice with respect to OS in companies. In this paper we report on a study of the perceptions of OS and the uptake of OS products and development models in Swedish companies. The study used purposeful sampling of companies that have an expressed interest in OS, and the survey was conducted using a set of pre‐prepared questions. Its goal was to investigate the extent to which OS has influenced business thinking, as seen from the standpoint of stakeholders. We found that uptake is much higher than reported in earlier studies, but as with previous studies, activity is still concentrated in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). There is increased evidence of interest beyond the simple use of OS components at the infrastructure level. Further, a significant proportion of the companies studied are supporting the OS community as well as benefiting from it. Support includes participation in existing projects and the release of new software under OS licenses.

Practitioner perceptions of Open Source software in the embedded systems area

There is a growing body of research to show that, with the advent of so-called professional Open Source, attitudes within many organisations towards adopting Open Source software have changed. However, there have been conflicting reports on the extent to which this is true of the embedded software systems sector-a large sector in Europe. This paper reports on attitudes towards Open Source software within that sector. Our results show a high level of acceptance of Open Source products with large, well established communities, and not only at the level of the operating system. Control over the software is seen as fundamentally important. Other key perceptions with Open Source are an easing of long-term maintenance problems and ready availability of support. The classical strengths of Open Source, namely mass inspection, ease of conducting trials, longevity and source code access for debugging, were at the forefront of thinking. However, there was an acknowledgement that more guidelines are needed for assessing Open Source software and incorporating it into products.

Perceptions and Uptake of Open Source in Swedish Organisations

There are many different ways in which Open Source ideas can be adopted by business, and influence the way in which companies do business. A number of different surveys have been conducted in different countries with the purpose of understanding the state of practice with respect to Open Source in companies. A number of different business models have been observed, ranging from the use of Open Source infrastructure products to basing a company’s entire business model on Open Source. In this paper we report on a study of the perceptions of Open Source and the uptake of open source products and development models in Swedish companies. We investigate this from the standpoint of stakeholders in those companies which have an expressed interest in Open Source, allowing a more in-depth analysis of the extent to which Open Source has influenced business thinking. From our analysis we find that uptake is much higher than reported in earlier studies, but is still concentrated in SMEs, consistent with the findings of previous studies. There is increased evidence of interest beyond the simple use of OS components at the (LAMP) infrastructure level. In particular, a significant proportion of the companies are in a symbiotic relationship with the OS community, supporting both through participation in existing projects and the release of new software under OS licences.

Distributed development in an intra-national, intra-organisational context: an experience report

This paper reports from a study investigating distributed development in an intra-national and intra-organisational company context. The study gives an insight into issues related to, and strategies for successful distributed development seen in a project at Ericsson Microwave Systems. We conclude that regular, informal communication is the single most important factor for success in the project, with important roles in improving motivation and coordination. The leaders role in setting clear and transparent project priorities, and the use of iterative development methods with regular deliverables between sites, are identified as key elements of success. The context of the study is a relatively undemanding but common distributed development context, and the issues raised and strategies found to be effective are likely to be relevant to broader distributed development enterprises.

UML model interchange in heterogeneous tool environments: an analysis of adoptions of XMI 2

Heterogeneous tool environments are often a reality and it is therefore increasingly important to be able to interchange model information between tools. This is not only true concerning the natural heterogeneity resulting from distributed development contexts; the need may also arise in a tool chain and for legacy reasons. Without this possibility, there is significantly reduced flexibility, and a danger of tool lock-in. In this study we explore the use of the standardised interchange format XMI for supporting interchange of model information between heterogeneous tools. We report on the current state regarding XMI version 2.0 and greater. We find that there seems to be better support for model interchange using XMI 2.0 than for earlier versions of XMI, and speculate that one contributing factor may be the recent integrations of the Eclipse platform in UML modelling tools.

Learning Through Practical Involvement in the OSS Ecosystem: Experiences from a Masters Assignment

Increased awareness of and interest in Open Source has led to a number of university teaching initiatives, at both national and European level. In this paper we present experiences from a practical assignment designed to give students on an Open Source Masters course an insight into real involvement in Open Source projects. It discusses the motivations for the assignment, and how it was set up and executed. It reports on post facto student feedback, and reflects on a parallel, reduced exercise offered at undergraduate level. We find that the learning experience was both positive and valuable in that it gave real insight into Open Source participation, and also encouraged further participation in Open Source projects by students after the course had completed.

Ten strategies for successful distributed development

This paper presents an overview of the field of distributed development of software systems and applications (DD). Based on an analysis of the published literature, including its use in different industrial contexts, we provide a preliminary analysis that structures existing DD knowledge, indicating opportunities but identifying threats to communication, coordination, and control caused by temporal distance, geographical distance, and socio-cultural distance. An analysis of the case and field study literature has been used to identify strategies considered effective for countering the identified threats. The paper synthesizes from these a set of 10 general strategies for successful DD which, if adopted, should lead to increased company resilience.

The Nagios Community: An Extended Quantitative Analysis

The health of an Open Source ecosystem is an important decision factor when considering the adoption of an Open Source software or when monitoring a seeded Open Source project. In this paper we assess the ecosystem health using approaches involving domain analysis and social network analysis of mailing lists for the Nagios project. We elaborate approaches for how involvement of different roles can be analysed through quantitative analysis, specifically focusing on core developers and professional providers. Our contribution is a step towards a deeper understanding of professional involvement in professional Open Source ecosystems.