Major issues on process software engineering environments

Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of “programming in the large” environments and presents major innovations in software product structuring, configuration management, and software process integration. The main evolutions that are highlighted show the efforts toward integration, generalization, and modelization in order to achieve a formal description of the software process. We analyze current tendencies from the point of view of both support for resource management and software process. Focussing on the product we illustrate, using examples, the main efforts required to manage the resources involved in a software process. We show the earliest efforts to produce formal representations, applying data modeling concepts to integrate version and configuration management systems using software engineering databases. Turning to the process side of the question, we highlight recent work developing formal method to describe the process model. We conclude by presenting the Adele project, a process software engineering environment (PSEE) that achieves combined resources management (description of resources and product to be consumed and produced by the execution of activities and software process).