requirements engineering - present and future hot research topics

Requirements Engineering: Research topics

CECS 542 Dr.BirgitPenzenstadler 1

Photocredit:SamHull,Unsplash

HotresearchtopicsinRE•  PaperbyNuseibehandEasterbrook,2000

•  UpdatepaperbyChengandAtleein2007

Dr.BirgitPenzenstadler 2

Source


CogniIveandsocialsciencesasfoundaIon

•  REdrawsonthecogniIveandsocialsciencestoprovideboththeoreIcalgroundingandpracIcaltechniquesforeliciIngandmodellingrequirements:

•  Cogni&vepsychologyprovidesanunderstandingofthedifficulIespeoplemayhaveindescribingtheirneeds[62]

•  AnthropologyprovidesamethodologicalapproachtoobservinghumanacIviIesthathelpstodeveloparicherunderstandingofhowcomputersystemsmayhelporhinderthoseacIviIes[29].

•  SociologyprovidesanunderstandingofthepoliIcalandculturalchangescausedbycomputerisaIon.

•  Linguis&csisimportantbecauseREislargelyaboutcommunicaIon.


Requirementstoelicit

•  Boundaries•  Stakeholders•  Goals•  Usertasks/usecasesàAllsoundsfamiliar,right?


ElicitaIontechniques

•  TradiIonaltechniques(surveys,interviews)•  GroupelicitaIontechniques(workshops)•  Prototyping•  Model-driventechniques(e.g.,KAOS)•  CogniIvetechniques(cardsorIng)•  Contextualtechniques(ethnographics)


Modelingandanalyzingrequirements

•  Enterprisemodeling•  Datamodeling•  Behaviormodeling•  Domainmodeling•  ModelingNFRs•  Analyzingrequirementsmodels


CommunicaIngrequirements•  REisnotonlyaprocessofdiscoveringandspecifyingrequirements,itisalso

aprocessoffacilitaIngeffecIvecommunicaIonoftheserequirementsamongdifferentstakeholdersàensuringthattheycanberead,analysed,(re-)wriben,andvalidated.

•  ThefocusofrequirementsdocumentaIonresearchisocenonspecificaIonlanguagesandnotaIons,withavarietyofformal,semi-formalandinformallanguagessuggestedforthispurpose,fromlogictonaturallanguageàdifferentlanguageshavebeenshowntohavedifferentexpressiveandreasoningcapabiliIes.

•  Whatisincreasinglyrecognisedascrucial,however,isrequirementsmanagement–theability,notonlytowriterequirementsbutalsotodosoinaformthatisreadableandtraceablebymany,inordertomanagetheirevoluIonoverIme.

•  OneabempttoachievereadabilityhasbeenthedevelopmentofavarietyofdocumentaIonstandardsthatprovideguidelinesforstructuringrequirementsdocuments.


Agreeingrequirements•  Asrequirementsareelicitedandmodelled,maintainingagreementwithall

stakeholderscanbeaproblem,especiallywherestakeholdershavedivergentgoals.

•  Recallthatvalida&onistheprocessofestablishingthattherequirementsandmodelselicitedprovideanaccurateaccountofstakeholderrequirements.

•  ExplicitlydescribingtherequirementsisanecessaryprecondiIonnotonlyforvalidaIngrequirements,butalsoforresolvingconflictsbetweenstakeholders.

•  TechniquessuchasinspecIonandformalanalysistendtoconcentrateonthecoherenceoftherequirementsdescripIons:aretheyconsistent,andaretheystructurallycomplete?

•  RequirementsvalidaIonisdifficultfortworeasons:–  Thefirstreasonisphilosophicalinnature,andconcernsthequesIonoftruth

andwhatisknowable.–  Thesecondreasonissocial,andconcernsthedifficultyofreachingagreement

amongdifferentstakeholderswithconflicInggoals.


Evolvingrequirements•  Successfulsocwaresystemsalwaysevolveasthe

environmentinwhichthesesystemsoperatechangesandstakeholderrequirementschange.ThereforemanagingchangeisafundamentalacIvityinRE[9].

•  ChangestorequirementsdocumentaIonneedtobemanaged.Minimally,thisinvolvesprovidingtechniquesandtoolsforconfiguraIonmanagementandversioncontrol[22],andexploiIngtraceabilitylinkstomonitorandcontroltheimpactofchangesindifferentpartsofthedocumentaIon.

•  Finally,thedevelopmentofsocwaresystemproductfamilieshasbecomeanincreasinglyimportantformofdevelopmentacIvity.


Integratedrequirementsengineering•  REisamulI-disciplinaryacIvity,deployingavarietyoftechniquesandtools

atdifferentstagesofdevelopmentandfordifferentkindsofapplicaIondomains.MethodsprovideasystemaIcapproachtocombiningdifferenttechniquesandnotaIons,andmethodengineering[10]playsanimportantroleindesigningtheREprocesstobedeployedforaparIcularproblemordomain.MethodsprovideheurisIcsandguidelinesfortherequirementsengineertodeploytheappropriatenotaIonormodellingtechniqueatdifferentstagesoftheprocess.

•  AvarietyofapproacheshavebeensuggestedtomanageandintegratedifferentREacIviIesandproducts.Jackson,forexample,usesproblemframestostructuredifferentkindsofelementaryandcompositeproblems[39].HisargumentisthatidenIfyingwell-understoodproblemsoffersthepossibilityofselecIngcorresponding,appropriate,well-understood,soluIons.

•  AnalternaIveapproachtoorganising,selecIngandtailoringmulIplemethodsisthroughtheuseofmulIpleperspecIvesorviewsofrequirements[16;26].


Jackson’sproblemframes


Decade1990-2000(beforepublicaIon)

During1990-2000,wecandiscerntheemergenceofthreeradicalnewideasthatchallengedandoverturnedtheorthodoxviewsofRE.Thesethreeideasarecloselyinterconnected:•  TheideathatmodellingandanalysiscannotbeperformedadequatelyinisolaIon

fromtheorganisaIonalandsocialcontextinwhichanynewsystemwillhavetooperate.Thisviewemphasisedtheuseofcontextualisedenquirytechniques,includingethnomethodologyandparIcipantobservaIon[29;63].

•  ThenoIonthatREshouldnotfocusonspecifyingthefuncIonalityofanewsystem,butinsteadshouldconcentrateonmodellingindicaIveandoptaIveproperIesoftheenvironment2[84].Onlybydescribingtheenvironment,andexpressingwhatthenewsystemmustachieveinthatenvironment,wecancapturethesystem’spurpose,andreasonaboutwhetheragivendesignwillmeetthatpurpose.ThisnoIonhasbeenaccompaniedbyashicinemphasisawayfrommodellinginformaIonflowandsystemstate,andtowardsmodellingstakeholders’goals[15]andscenariosthatillustratehowgoalsare(orcanbe)achieved[51].

•  TheideathattheabempttobuildconsistentandcompleterequirementsmodelsisfuIle,andthatREhastotakeseriouslytheneedtoanalyseandresolveconflicIngrequirements,tosupportstakeholdernegoIaIon,andtoreasonwithmodelsthatcontaininconsistencies[28].


N&E’sPredicIonfor2000-2010•  DevelopmentofnewtechniquesforformallymodellingandanalysingproperIesoftheenvironment

•  BridgingthegapbetweenrequirementselicitaIonapproachesbasedoncontextualenquiryandmoreformalspecificaIonandanalysistechniques.

•  Richermodelsforcapturingandanalysingnon-funcIonalrequirements.

•  BeberunderstandingoftheimpactofsocwarearchitecturalchoicesontheprioriIsaIonandevoluIonofrequirements.

•  Reuseofrequirementsmodels.•  MulIdisciplinarytrainingforrequirementspracIIoners.


Source


Hottopics•  Scale•  Security•  Tolerance•  IncreasedRelianceonEnvironment•  Self-Management•  GlobalizaIon•  Methodologies,paberns,andtools•  RequirementsReuse•  EffecIvenessofREtechnologies


Scale

•  Largescaleandultra-largescalesystemsàneedtomanagetensofthousandsofrequirements

•  Systemsofsystems•  Cyber-physicalsystems•  E.g.futureintelligenttransportaIon-managementsystems,criIcalinfrastructureprotecIonsystems(e.g.,systemsmanagingpowergrids,bridges,telecommunicaIonsystems),integratedhealth-caresystems,anddisaster-responsesystems


Security•  IdenIfyanddocumentpotenIalsecuritythreats:idenIfiesassets,idenIfiesvulnerabiliIesinthecontextofpotenIalthreats,andspecifiescountermeasurestoprotectagainstthesethreats

•  E.g.inmisusecasesandtheirmiIgaIon•  AnalternaIveapproachwouldtakeatop-downviewofsecurityrequirements,andbaserequirementsonorganizaIonalstructures,suchaslinesofauthority,“separaIonofduIes,delegaIon,roles,groups,”accesspolicies,andsoon


Tolerance•  SocwareisincreasinglyusedtoautomatecriIcalapplicaIonsand

services,suchastransportaIonvehiclesandsystems,financialdecisionsandtransacIons,medicalcare,militarycommandandcontrol,andsoon;inwhichsecurityandassurancerequirementsareparamount.

•  However,giventhecomplexityofsuchsystems,withrespecttosize,decentralizeddecision-making,andvariability,theSEandREcommuniIesmayneedtosocentheirviewsandexpectaIonsforsecurityandcorrectness.

•  SufficientCorrectness:Thedegreetowhichasystemmustbedependableinordertoservethepurposeitsuserintends,andtodosowellenoughtosa&sfythecurrentneedsandexpecta&onsofthoseusers.

•  àfocusonrequirementsforacceptablebehaviorandonwhatitmeansforasystemtobe“healthy”


Increasedrelianceonenvironment

•  Cyber-physicalsystems(CPSs)areanewgeneraIonofengineeredsystemsinwhichcompuIngandcommunicaIonareIghtlycoupledwiththemonitoringandcontrolofenIIesinthephysicalworld

•  Examplecyber-physicalsystemsincludeintelligenttransportaIonandvehiclesystems;automatedmanufacturing;criIcalinfrastructuremonitoring;disasterresponse;opImizaIonofenergyconsumpIon;smartwearableapreforhealthcare,personalsafety,andmedicalneeds;andefficientagriculture

•  Toreasonaboutanintegratedsystem,itbecomesnecessarytoformalizetheproperIesoftheenvironmentswithwhichthesocwarewillinteroperate.

•  àThereneedtobebebertechniquesforintegraIngmodelsoftheenvironment,interfacedevices,andsocwarecomponents.


Selfmanagement•  Growinginterestinself-managingsystems,inwhichthesocwaresystem

isawareofitscontextandisabletoreactandadapttochangesineitheritsenvironmentoritsrequirements–suchasamobiledevice,whoseavailableservicesvarywiththeuser’slocaIonandwiththelocalserviceprovider(s).

•  Examplesofsuchsystemsincludeself-healingsystemsthatareabletorecoverdynamicallyfromsystemfailure,faults,errors,orsecuritybreaches;andself-op&mizingsystemsthatareabletoopImizetheirperformancedynamicallywithrespecttochangingoperaIonalprofiles.

•  REchallenges:–  IdenIfyingandspecifyingthresholdsforwhenthesys-temshouldadapt–  Specifyingvariablesetsofrequirements–  MatchingrequirementsalternaIvestorun-Imeneeds–  IdenIfyingcorrectnesscriteriaforadapIvesystems–  VerifyingmodelsofadapIvesystemsandtheirsetsofpossiblebehaviors–  Monitoringthesystemandenvironment,againstthecurrentrequirements


GlobalizaIon•  GlobalsoEwaredevelopmentisanemergingparadigmshic

towardsgloballydistributeddevelopmentteams(exploita24-hourworkday,capitalizeonglobalresourcepools,de-creasecosts,andbegeographicallyclosertotheend-consumer).

•  Downside:communicaIongaps•  Challenges:

–  1.neworextendedREtechniquesareneededtosupportoutsourcingofdownstreamdevelopmenttasks,suchasdesign,coding,andtesIng.

–  2.toenableeffecIvedistributedRE,i.e.managedistributedrequirementselicitaIon,distributedmodeling,distributedrequirementsnegoIaIon,andthemanagementofdistributedteams


Methodologies,Paberns,andTools

•  ThetransferofREtechnologiesfromresearchintopracIcewouldbenefitfrombeberadviceonhowtoapplythetechnologiesmoresystemaIcally.

•  Thegoalsofthistypeofengineering-styleresearcharetoimprovetheproducIvityoftherequirementsanalystandtoimprovethequalityoftheresulIngrequirementsarIfacts.

•  Forexample,justaspa3ernshelptoeasethecreaIonoflogicexpressions,researchintoidiomsandpabernsforothermodelingproblemsandnotaIonswouldimprovetheproduc6vityofmodelers.

•  Similarly,modelingconven6ons,methodologies,andstrategiesallhelptosimplifyREtechniquessothatthetechniquescanbeusedsuccessfullybytypicalpracIIoners.

•  Becausepabernsandstrategiesare,orsuggest,parIalsoluIons,theyhelpalsotoimposesomelevelofuniformityandpredictabilityintheresulIngrequirementsdescripIons.


Methodologies,Paberns,andTools

•  DespitethesignificantadvancesthathavebeenmadeinrequirementsmodelingandnotaIons,therehasbeenlibleworkonhowtointerconnectvarioustypesofrequirementsmodels.

•  Well-definedapproachestointerrelaIngrequirementsgoals,scenarios,data,funcIons,state-basedbehavior,andconstraintsareneededtoaddressthisfundamentalproblem.

•  FurtherresearchisneededonhowtointegrateREtechnologies,sothatpracIIonersknowhowtoapplyindividualtechnologieseffecIvelyandsynergisIcally.


RequirementsReuse

•  AnotherapproachtomakingREtasksmoreprescripIveandsystemaIcwouldbetofacilitatethereuseofexisIngrequirementsarIfacts.Themoststrategicformofrequirementsreuseisproductlining,

•  AkeyREchallengeforproduct-linedevelopmentincludesstrategicandeffecIvetechniquesforanalyzingdomains;idenIfyingopportuniIesforproductlining;andidenIfyingthescope,commonaliIes,andvariabiliIesofaproductline.

•  Asecondchallengerelatestohowrequirementsforproductlinesaredocumentedàe.g.featuremodels.


EffecIvenessofRETechnologies

•  Lastly,theulImateimpactofREresearchdependsonhowrelevanttheresultsaretoindustry’sshort-andlong-termneeds.Sofar,therehasbeensurprisinglylibleevaluaIonastohowwellREresearchresultsaddressindustryproblems.

•  PracIIonersneedhardevidencethatanewtechnologyiscost-effecIve,inordertojusIfytheoverhead,intrainingandinprocessdocumentaIon,ofchangingtheirdevelopmentprocesses.

•  InparIcular,pracIIonerswouldbenefitgreatlyfromempiricalstudiesthatassessthecostsandbenefitsofusingproposedtechnologies,assessthescopeofproblemstowhichresearchresultscanfeasiblybeapplied,andcomparetheeffecIvenessofcompeIngtechnologies.

•  Therehavebeenafewstudiesalongtheselines.àWhataretheproblemshereforthosestudies?


FiverecommendaIons…thattheREcommunitycouldtakeimmediateacIonon,tostartimprovingthematurityofcurrentrequirementstechnologies:•  ResearchersshouldworkwithpracIIoners.•  REresearchersshouldworkwithotherSEresearchersand

pracIIoners,toestablishstrongerlinksbetweentheirrespecIvearIfacts.

•  REresearchersshouldnotneglectevaluaIonandempiricalresearch.

•  IndustrialorganizaIonsshouldprovide(saniIzed)industrial-strengthprojectdatatoresearchers.

•  REresearchersandpracIIoners,together,shouldestablishrepositoriesofREarIfacts.


requirements engineering - present and future hot research topics

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