Ivar Jacobson

Use Cases and Aspects - Working Seamlessly Together

Aspect oriented programming (AOP) is “the missing link” to allow you slice a system, use case by use case, over “all” lifecycle models. This will dramatically change the way complex systems are understood, how new features are added to systems, and how systems are implemented and tested. AOP will also add a new dimension of reuse to software development. And it is here to be harvested—now.

Use Cases -- Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

To my knowledge, no other software engineering language construct as significant as use cases has been adopted so quickly and so widely among practitioners. I believe this is because use cases play a role in so many different aspects of software engineering.Although I first used the term in 1986, I had actually been working on and evolving the concept of use cases since 1967. So many people have asked me how I came up with this concept that I decided to write this article to explain the origins and evolution of use cases. I’ll also summarize what they have helped us achieve so far, and then suggest a few improvements for the future.

The essence of software engineering: the SEMAT kernel

A thinking framework in the form of an actionable kernel.

Enough of Processes - Lets do Practices

All modern software development processes try to help project teams conduct their work. While there are some important differences between them, the commonalities are far greater - and understandably, since the end goal of them all is to produce working software quickly and effectively. Thus, it doesn’t matter which process you adopt as long as it is adaptable, extensible, and capable of absorbing good ideas, even if they arise from other processes. To achieve this kind of flexibility things need to change. The focus needs to shift from the definition of complete processes to the capture of reusable practices. Teams should be able to mix-and-match practices and ideas from many different sources to create effective ways of working, ones that suit them and address their risks. In this new approach to process, which we call “EssWork”, teams select practices, which are then composed and integrated seamlessly into their development environments to provide dynamic and contextualized guidance, active facilitation, and even help remove mundane tasks through clever automation. In this paper we examine the issues facing the current generation of processes and show why we have all had enough of them. We then introduce the concept of practices and demonstrate why this is a superior approach to traditional process documentation, and the innovations needed to bring the practices to life. Finally we present EssWork and show how it can help teams realize their investment in learning, developing, and documenting best practices.

Agile and SEMAT: perfect partners

Combining agile and SEMAT yields more advantages than either one alone.

Is object technology software's industrial platform?

The past, present, and future of object-oriented software technology are discussed. The current beamless modeling of object-oriented systems and language choices are renewed. Future architecture development, development processes, legacy systems, and languages are described.<<ETX>>

Methodology standards: help or hindrance?

Over the last 12 months there has been growing interest in the possible “standardization” and/or “convergence” of object-oriented analysis and design methodologies. The key issues discussed by the panellists focus on whether standardization NOW is to be encouraged or resisted whether standards are a help or a hindrance to the further maturation of 00 methodologies. Each panellist has been closely associated with the development of an 00 lifecycle methodology. Some of the issues raised include:

Refounding software engineering: the semat initiative (invited presentation)

The new software engineering initiative, Semat, is in the process of developing a kernel for software engineering that stands on a solid theoretical basis. So far, it has suggested a set of kernel elements for software engineering and basic language constructs for defining the elements and their usage. This paper describes a session during which Semat results and status will be presented. The presentation will be followed by a discussion panel.

Introduction to the special section-General Theories of Software Engineering

In recent years, software engineering researchers have recognized the importance of the role of theory or SE research, resulting in the emergence of the General Theories of Software Engineering (GTSE) community. This editorial introduces a special section that contains four articles, and reflects on the advances made by the contributing authors.We discuss the different approaches taken in each of the four papers and outline a number of avenues for future research.

Is there a single method for the internet of things

The Industrial Internet Consortium predicts the IoT (Internet of Things) will become the third technological revolution after the Industrial Revolution and the Internet Revolution. Its impact across all industries and businesses can hardly be imagined. Existing software (business, telecom, aerospace, defense, etc.) is expected to be modified or redesigned, and a huge amount of new software, solving new problems, will have to be developed. As a consequence, the software industry should welcome new and better methods.