Shihong Huang

A qualitative assessment of the efficacy of UML diagrams as a form of graphical documentation in aiding program understanding

Graphical documentation is often characterized as an effective aid in program understanding. However, it is an open question exactly which types of graphical documentation are most suitable for which types of program understanding tasks (and in which specific usage contexts). The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the de facto standard for modeling modern software applications. This paper describes an experiment to assess the qualitative efficacy of UML diagrams in aiding program understanding. The experiment had participants analyze a series of UML diagrams and answer a detailed questionnaire concerning a hypothetical software system. Results from the experiment suggest that the UMLs efficacy in support of program understanding is limited by factors such as ill-defined syntax and semantics, spatial layout, and domain knowledge.

WSDLTest - A Tool for Testing Web Services

A significant barrier to the use of Web services is the problem of testing them. One of the solutions to deal with the problem lies in the ability to simulate the usage of the services. Requests must be generated and responses must be validated automatically in a fast and reliable manner. To accomplish this goal, we have developed a tool called WSDLTest. WSDLTest is part of a larger complex tool set - DataTest - for generating and validating system test data. The architecture and functionality of this tool, as well as the experience gained from using it, are presented

Evaluating the reverse engineering capabilities of Web tools for understanding site content and structure: a case study

This paper describes an evaluation of the reverse engineering capabilities of three Web tools for understanding site content and structure. The evaluation is based on partitioning Web sites into three classes (static, interactive, and dynamic), and is structured using an existing reverse engineering environment framework (REEF). This case study also represents an initial evaluation of the applicability of the REEF in the related but qualitatively different domain of Web sites. The case study highlights several shortcomings of current Web tools in the context of aiding understanding to support evolution. For example, most Web tools are geared towards new page design and development, not to understanding detailed page content or overall site structure. The evaluation also identified some aspects of the REEF that might benefit from refinement to better reflect Web tool capabilities that support common evolution tasks. For example, Web server log file analysis as a specialized form of data gathering and subsequence information presentation.

Towards a documentation maturity model

This paper presents preliminary work towards a maturity model for system documentation. The Documentation Maturity Model (DMM) is specifically targeted towards assessing the quality of documentation used in aiding program understanding. Software engineers and technical writers produce such documentation during regular product development lifecycles. The documentation can also be recreated after the fact via reverse engineering. The DMM has both process and product components; this paper focuses on the product quality aspects.

On the business value and technical challenges of adopting web services

This paper provides a balanced perspective of the business value and technical challenges of adopting Web services. Technology adoption is a continual challenge for both tool developers and enterprise users. Web services are a prime example of an emerging technology that is fraught with adoption issues. Part of the problem is separating marketing hype from business reality. Web services are network-accessible interfaces to application functionality. They are built using Internet technologies such as XML and standard protocols such as SOAP. The adoption issues related to Web services are complex and multifaceted. For example, determining whether this technology is a fundamental advance, rather than something old under a new name, requires technical depth, business acumen, and considerable historical knowledge of past developments. A sample problem from the health care industry is used to illustrate some of the adoption issues.

Defining Security Requirements Through Misuse Actions

An important aspect of security requirements is the understanding and listing of the possible threats to the system. Only then can we decide what specific defense mechanisms to use. We show here an approach to list all threats by considering each action in each use case and analyzing how it can be subverted by an internal or external attacker. From this list we can deduce what policies are necessary to prevent or mitigate the threats. These policies can then be used as guidelines for design. The proposed method can include formal design notations for validation and verification.

Adoption challenges in migrating to web services

This paper outlines some of the challenges inherent in migrating to Web services. Technology adoption is a continual challenge for both tool developers and enterprise users. Web services are a prime example of a red-hot technology that is fraught with adoption issues. Part of the problem is separating marketing hype from business reality. Web services are network-accessible interfaces to application functionality. They are built using Internet technologies such as XML and standard protocols such as SOAP. The adoption issues related to Web services are complex and multifaceted. For example, determining whether this technology is a fundamental advance, rather than something old under a new name, requires technical depth, business acumen, and considerable historical knowledge of past claims. A model problem from the health care industry is used to illustrate some of the adoption issues that arise in migrating to Web services.

Documenting software systems with views II: an integrated approach based on XML

Software engineers rely on program documentation as an aid in understanding the functional nature, high-level design, and implementation details of complex applications. Without such documentation, engineers are forced to rely solely on source code. This is a time-consuming and error-prone process, especially when one considers the amount of information assimilation and domain mapping that is required to understand the architecture of a large-scale software system. This paper describes an integrated approach to documenting software systems based on XML. In particular, the paper focuses on the creation and use of specific Document Type Definitions (DTD) that are defined by MSR as a standard for software documentation. MSR is a consortium of several German automotive companies whose goal is to support cooperative development between car manufacturers and their electronic system suppliers. To illustrate the approach, selected aspects of the document creation process for an engine control system are presented.

Issues of content and structure for a multilingual web site

Most content on the Web today is in English, but the majority of the Earths peoples speak languages other than English. To reach a wider audience, future Web sites will have to be multilingual, changing a Web site from one that is American-centric and single-language to one that is globally-oriented and multilingual. While the challenges in creating and maintaining a high-quality Web site in a single language are considerable, working with multiple languages simultaneously creates special challenges, both culturally and technically. This paper outlines issues related to two important aspects of the problem: content and structure. Several representative Web sites are examined to illustrate some of these considerations.

Semat--Three Year Vision

The purpose of writing this Three Year Vision paper is threefold. Firstly, it briefly recaps the progress Semat has made thus far; secondly, it lays out the future directions for people working actively within the Semat community; thirdly, it provides the background for seeking funding support from agencies, such as the European Community and the like. Funding support is necessary to sustain the ongoing activities of Semat and its growth into a broader community effort, as most people working within Semat are volunteers. As such, the paper may be both too much and too little for the wider supporter base. However, we intend to make our work fully transparent, hence, we publish it widely. We seek feedback and comments from supporters and signatories in order to improve the vision. In this context, other companion papers are being written to better address the specific needs for the practitioners, the industry and the academia.