Future Software Engineers Research Articles

Integrating Generative AI into the Software Development Lifecycle: Impacts on Code Quality and Maintenance

Recent advances in generative AI have depicted it as a revolutionary approach in the software development technologies pioneered to improve the codes' reliability and sustain their quality and performance. Generative AI tools can help develop code independently, suggest intelligent solutions and ideas, and enhance several development procedures thanks to superior algorithms and machine learning features. This paper discusses how generative AI can/has been applied within software development to achieve the following three goals: First, to increase the code quality using automated code generation/review. Second, the code maintainability should be improved through standards and documentation. Third, to increase the up-to-speed development productivity due to AI-based automation, namely the automation of repetitive tasks and fast prototyping. The paper also considers issues and difficulties that can be tied to AI in this context: problems of dependence on AI, ethical and security issues, and technical imperfections. Finally, the implications of generative AI in software development in the future are presented, which can open a new direction in the development of software products while primarily pointing to the processes of managing the introduction of generative AI. Using the evaluation of the current possibilities and future perspectives of generative AI presented in this paper, one can conclude its impact on the future of software engineering.

From Code to Care: The Impact of Software Engineering and QA on Healthcare Delivery Systems

The rapid digitalization of healthcare has led to an unprecedented reliance on software systems to improve patient care, streamline operations, and ensure regulatory compliance. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the critical role that software engineering and quality assurance (QA) play in three key areas of modern healthcare: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), telemedicine platforms, and medical device software. Through an examination of current practices, challenges, and case studies, we demonstrate how robust software engineering methodologies and rigorous QA processes contribute to the development of reliable, secure, and efficient healthcare applications. Our findings highlight the importance of data integrity, interoperability, user experience, and regulatory compliance in healthcare software development. Furthermore, we explore emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), discussing their implications for future software engineering and QA practices in healthcare. This article provides valuable insights for healthcare organizations, software developers, and policymakers, offering recommendations to enhance the quality and safety of software-driven healthcare solutions.

Product managers in software startups: A grounded theory

Context:Defining and designing a software product is not merely a technical endeavor, but also a socio-technical journey. As such, its success is associated with human-related aspects, such as the value users perceive. To handle this issue, the product manager role has become more evident in software-intensive companies. A unique, challenging context for these professionals is constituted by software startups, emerging companies developing novel solutions looking for sustainable and scalable business models. Objective:This study aims to describe the role of product managers in the context of software startups. Method:We performed a Socio-Technical Grounded Theory study using data from blog posts and interviews. Results:The results describe the product manager as a multidisciplinary, general role, not only guiding the product by developing its vision but also as a connector that emerges in a growing company, enabling communication of software development with other areas, mainly business and user experience. The professional performing this role has a background in one of these areas but a broad knowledge and understanding of key concepts of the other areas is needed. We also describe how differences of this role to other lead roles are perceived in practice. Conclusions:Our findings represent several implications for research, such as better understanding of the role transformation in growing software startups, practice, e.g., identifying the points to which a professional migrating to this role should pay attention, and the education of future software developers, by suggesting the inclusion of related topics in the education and training of future software engineers.

Software Engineering Techniques for Building Sustainable Cities with Electric Vehicles

As the process of urbanization continues to accelerate, the demand for sustainable cities has become more critical than ever before. The incorporation of electric vehicles (EVs) is a key component in creating sustainable cities. However, the development of smart cities for EVs entails more than just the installation of charging stations. Software engineering plays a crucial role in realizing smart cities for electric vehicles. This paper examines the role of software engineering in the creation of smart cities for electric vehicles, the techniques utilized in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the obstacles faced by software engineers, and the future of software engineering in sustainable cities. Specifically, the paper explores the significance of software engineering in integrating EVs into the transportation system, including the design of smart charging and energy management systems, and the establishment of intelligent transportation systems. Additionally, the paper offers case studies to demonstrate successful software engineering implementations for smart cities. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges that software engineers encounter in implementing intelligent transportation systems for EVs and provides future directions for software engineering in sustainable cities.

A systematic review of the literature on methods and technologies for teaching parallel and distributed computing in universities

There is a growing demand for software developers who have experience writing parallel programs rather than just "parallelizing" sequential systems as computer hardware gets more and more parallel. In order to develop the skills of future software engineers, it is crucial to teach pupils parallelism in elementary computer science courses. We searched the Scopus database for articles on "teaching parallel and distributed computing" and "parallel programming," published in English between 2008 and 2019. 26 papers were included in the study after quality review. As a result, a lab course using the C++ programming language and MPI library serves as the primary teaching tool for parallel and distributed computing.

EMF-Syncer: scalable maintenance of view models over heterogeneous data-centric software systems at run time

With the increasing presence of cyber-physical systems (CPSs), like autonomous vehicle systems and digital twins, the future of software engineering is predicated on the importance of designing and developing data-centric software systems that can adapt intelligently at run time. CPSs consist of complex heterogeneous software components. Model-driven engineering advocates using software models to tame such complexity, capturing the relevant design concerns of such systems at different levels of abstraction. Yet most of the existing CPSs are engineered without considering MDE practices and tools, facing fundamental challenges when working with data: monitoring the program data at run time, syncing updates between program and model, dealing with heterogeneous data sources, and representing such observed data at run time to facilitate automated analysis. In this work, we introduce the notion of view models to explicitly represent parts of the domain knowledge implicitly embedded in the source code of a software system. This notion is equipped with a scalable bidirectional syncing mechanism that extracts view model instances from program snapshots at run time. The syncing mechanism is proposed from a conceptual point of view, independently of specific implementations and supports incremental view model update and view model maintenance. We show how this syncing mechanism is flexible enough to facilitate the non-intrusive adoption of MDE technology over existing MDE-agnostic heterogeneous data-centric systems. We study the run-time cost implied by the EMF-Syncer , the tool implementing this syncing mechanism for Java applications and view models atop the eclipse modeling framework (EMF) when executing data analytic and transformation tasks over large volumes of data in the presence of data updates at run time. An empirical evaluation of the EMF-Syncer has been conducted with an industry-targeted benchmark for decision support systems, analyzing performance and scalability. The novel syncing mechanism enables new opportunities to adopt MDE technology in heterogeneous data-centric systems.

The use of massive open online courses in teaching the fundamentals of programming to software engineers

The article describes the possibilities of using massive open online courses (MOOC) in teaching the discipline "Fundamentals of Programming" to students majoring in software engineering. The content of studying the discipline "Fundamentals of Programming" and the number of hours allotted for its study in institutions of higher education in Ukraine is analyzed. When studying the discipline "Fundamentals of Programming" at the Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, the study of the corresponding course on the platform of massive open online courses Sololearn is submitted for independent work. A description of the possibilities of using this MOOC in teaching the discipline "Fundamentals of Programming" to future specialists in software engineering is presented. In addition, using a pedagogical experiment, the effectiveness of using the Sololearn in teaching the discipline "Fundamentals of Programming" to future software engineering specialists was tested. The results of the pedagogical experiment showed the effectiveness of using the MOOC Sololearn in teaching the "Fundamentals of Programming" to future software engineering specialists.

Formation of software design skills among software engineering students

The study focuses on one of the mobile-oriented environment competence components for software engineering (SE) students. It has been demonstrated that the implementation of the higher education standard for SE bachelors has generated a number of issues in terms of ensuring training quality, principally due to a lack of specification for both skills and learning outcomes. Designing a precise framework of professional competencies for SE bachelors is one method to overcome these issues. The research examines methods for developing K14 (the ability to participate in software design, including modeling (formal description) of its structure, behavior, and working processes), a critical particular professional competency for future software engineers. Recommendations for software design teaching techniques, learning content, modeling and design tools, and assessment of the level of formation of relevant competence are developed based on a historical and genetic review of software design training among SE students in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. The industrial-style software design training (studio training) is used as an example. The transition from architectural to detailed design, as well as project implementation, are discussed. The study's future prospects include substantiating the third engineering component of SE – software construction (after requirements engineering and design engineering).

A Cross-Domain Systematic Mapping Study on Software Engineering for Digital Twins

Digital Twins are currently investigated as the technological backbone for providing an enhanced understanding and management of existing systems as well as for designing new systems in various domains, e.g., ranging from single manufacturing components such as sensors to large-scale systems such as smart cities. Given the diverse application domains of Digital Twins, it is not surprising that the characterization of the term Digital Twin, as well as the needs for developing and operating Digital Twins are multi-faceted. Providing a better understanding what the commonalities and differences of Digital Twins in different contexts are, may allow to build reusable support for developing, running, and managing Digital Twins by providing dedicated concepts, techniques, and tool support. In this paper, we aim to uncover the nature of Digital Twins based on a systematic mapping study which is not limited to a particular application domain or technological space. We systematically retrieved a set of 1471 unique publications of which 356 were selected for further investigation. In particular, we analyzed the types of research and contributions made for Digital Twins, the expected properties Digital Twins have to fulfill, how Digital Twins are realized and operated, as well as how Digital Twins are finally evaluated. Based on this analysis, we also contribute a novel feature model for Digital Twins from a software engineering perspective as well as several observations to further guide future software engineering research in this area.

Professional competencies of future software engineers in the software design: teaching techniques

The article is devoted to one of the competence components of a mobile-oriented environment for professional and practical training of future software engineers. It is shown that the introduction of higher education standard 121 “Software Engineering” for the first (bachelor) level of higher education in Ukraine has generated a number of training quality assurance problems associated primarily with the low level of detailed competencies and program learning outcomes. By solving these problems, the detailed design of the system of professional competencies for future software engineers is developed. The article deals with the approaches to developing one of the most important special professional competences of future software engineers – the ability to participate in software design, including modeling (formal description) of its structure, behavior, and processes of functioning. Based on a historical and genetic review of the software engineering training practice of future software engineers in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, recommendations for choosing forms of training organization, selection of training content, ways of students’ and teachers’ activities in software engineering, modeling and designing tools; assessment of the appropriate competence formation level are formulated. The example of organizing design training in conditions close to industrial-studio training is considered. The problems of transition from architectural to detailed design and project implementation are shown. Prospects for further development of this study are to substantiate the third (after requirements engineering and design engineering) engineering component of software engineering – the software construction.

Perspectives on adherence to ethics standards and behaviour in software development

Considering the <span>powerful position assumed in creating software that changes human lives and society; it is compelling that in addition to technical standards, ethical standards, especially those captured in codes of ethics and practice be adhered to by software engineers. Despite efforts by professional bodies on ethical standards awareness, it is alleged that software engineers are not able to uphold ethical standards in software development projects. This research study probed lecturers concerned with the teaching of software development courses to determine their perceived levels of ethical standards and behavior. The findings show that the importance of ethical standards is recognized. The respondents reported high levels of ethical standards of their own work, colleagues’ work and their students’ work. Although in general the respondents reported high ethical standards, elements of lesser perceived ethical standards on students indicate the need for improvements. The findings of the study are important to educators and industry to recognize the significance of levels of ethics standards and the role educators have in terms of inculcating such ethical standards early in the making of future software engineers.</span>

A systematic literature review of requirements engineering education

Requirements engineering (RE) has established itself as a core software engineering discipline. It is well acknowledged that good RE leads to higher quality software and considerably reduces the risk of failure or budget-overspending of software development projects. It is of vital importance to train future software engineers in RE and educate future requirements engineers to adequately manage requirements in various projects. To this date, there exists no central concept of what RE education shall comprise. To lay a foundation, we report on a systematic literature review of the field and provide a systematic map describing the current state of RE education. Doing so allows us to describe how the educational landscape has changed over the last decade. Results show that only a few established author collaborations exist and that RE education research is predominantly published in venues other than the top RE research venues (i.e., in venues other than the RE conference and journal). Key trends in RE instruction of the past decade include involvement of real or realistic stakeholders, teaching predominantly elicitation as an RE activity, and increasing student factors such as motivation or communication skills. Finally, we discuss open opportunities in RE education, such as training for security requirements and supply chain risk management, as well as developing a pedagogical foundation grounded in evidence of effective instructional approaches.

Особливості навчання усного англомовного мовлення фахівців інженерних спеціальностей

The paper studies the peculiarities of teaching oral English to specialists in engineering specialties in higher education institutions as one of the important structural elements in the education system. The main and specific characteristics of the peculiarities of teaching oral English to specialists in engineering specialties in higher education institutions are analyzed. It is established that teachers in the process of teaching students of engineering specialties of spoken English should create appropriate conditions under which there would be a transfer of structurally complete language actions from educational to non-educational, i.e. in a natural situation of communication. It is established that a significant number of teachers in the process of teaching a foreign language use the project methodology, which successfully contributes to the formation of students' necessary communication and speaking skills. It is determined that to provide quality teaching of oral English teachers should ensure the formation of foreign language communicative competence of future software engineers, electronics specialists and specialists in thermal engineering, by systematic study of industry content in a foreign language, modelling professional activities of future specialists by foreign engineers. It is determined that the organizational and pedagogical conditions for the formation of communicative competence of engineering specialists include: supplementing the content of educational programs and educational and methodological complexes in foreign disciplines with exercises, activities, texts and examples of effective professional communication; the use of interactive forms of teaching certain professional disciplines, taking into account the specifics of the professional activities of engineers in the implementation of dominant methods in the study of oral English; use of means of synchronous and asynchronous communication, special Internet resources and virtual communities in teaching a foreign language.

FORMATION OF THE CONTENT OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF FUTURE SOFTWARE ENGINEERS IN THE FIELD OF PARALLEL COMPUTING

The article describes the formation of the content of professional training of future software engineers in the field of parallel computing based on foreign fundamental works. The author highlights the problems that arise in shaping the content of professional training of future software engineers in the field of parallel computing. The difficulty of forming the content of professional training of future software engineers in the field of parallel computing is due to the constant rapid development of the theoretical basis for the use of parallel computing and tools for developing parallel and distributed programs. The following main sources were used to form the content of professional training of future software engineers in parallel and distributed computing: recommendations on the subject area of parallel and distributed computing of the ACM and IEEE-CS project, recommendations on the subject area of parallel and distributed computing with the support of NS. and the IEEE-TCPP Committee, fundamental work on parallel computing. Based on the sources described above, five main areas of knowledge were identified, covering the full range of parallel computing issues: mathematical foundations of parallel computing, parallel computing systems (computer basics), parallel programming technologies, parallel problemsolving algorithms, parallel computing, big tasks and specific subject areas. A consolidated content of professional training was formed in the form of a list of thematic sections on parallel calculations, which indicates the presence or absence of the relevant topic. ACM’s analysis of the paradigms of global computer education over the years and the work of foreign authors has led to a list of topics for training future software engineers in parallel computing and a recommended sequence of study paths.

Model of formation of professional competences of future software engineers under the conditions of the shortened cycle of professional training at universities

The author's model of formation of professional competences of future software engineers under the conditions of the shortened cycle of professional training at universities is characterized in the article. The relevance of such a study is due to the need of the labour market in the quality of training of software engineers in a short time, and hence the need to create appropriate conditions and use effective forms, methods and tools of training. In order to pre-evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed organizational and pedagogical conditions for the formation of professional competencies of future software engineers under the conditions of the shortened cycle of professional training at universities and forecasting the results of planned impacts, we have developed a structural and functional model of this process. The model contains the following blocks: block of organizational and pedagogical conditions, target block (purpose and tasks), methodological block (scientific approaches, pedagogical principles), content and procedural block (content, forms, methods and means of forming professional competencies of future software engineers), evaluation and reflective block (components of professional competencies of future software engineers, criteria, levels and indicators of their formation, assessment tools and diagnostic techniques), result block (expected result of the research process).

The future of software engineering: Visions of 2025 and beyond

<p>In the current technological scenario of the industry and businesses, there has been increasing need of software within systems and also an increasing demand being put onto software-intensive systems. This in effect will lead to a significant evolution of software engineering processes over the next twenty years. This is due to the fact of emerging technological advancements like Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things in the IT field, among other new developments. This paper addresses and tries to analyses the key research challenges being faced by the software engineering field and articulates information that is derived from the key research specializations within software engineering. The paper analyses the past and current trends in software engineering. The future of software engineering is also looked with respect to Industry 4.0 which including emerging technological platforms like Internet of Things. The societal impact aspect of future trends in software engineering is also addressed in this paper.</p>

The use of cloud computing technology in professional training of future programmers

The article provides a brief analysis of the current state of the study of cloud technologies by future software engineers at foreign and Ukrainian universities. The author experience in the application of cloud technologies in the training of future software engineers in Ukraine is presented. The application of cloud business automation systems, online services to monitor the implementation of the software projects, Google services for collaboration, planning and productivity while studying professional disciplines and carrying out diploma projects is described. Based on the survey conducted at Stackoverflow, the state of application of cloud technologies by software engineers around the world has been analyzed. The cloud technologies that are not studied at the analyzed universities of Ukraine and those that are not popular with software developers in the world, but studied at Ukrainian universities by future software engineers are outlined. Conclusions are made on the modernization of training programs for future software engineers. Topics for the study of cloud technologies by future software engineers in the content of professional disciplines are proposed.

Criteria for selecting open web-oriented technologies for teaching the basics of programming to future software engineers

The article presents the criteria for selecting open web-oriented technologies for teaching the basics of programming to future software engineers. An analysis of the available open web-oriented technologies for teaching the basics of programming to future software engineers made it possible to divide them into compilers, automated systems for checking programming tasks, mind maps, and massive open online courses. Criteria and corresponding indicators are defined for each of them: for web-oriented compilers and mind maps, design and functional criteria are allocated, for web-oriented automated systems for checking programming tasks, design, information-didactic, and communication criteria are allocated, for massive open online courses - informational didactic and functional. Comparative tables are given for all the listed web-oriented technologies for teaching the basics of programming to future software engineers according to certain criteria and indicators.

КОГНІТИВНІ СТИЛІ ЯК ЗАСІБ ІНТЕНСИФІКАЦІЇ НАВЧАННЯ МАЙБУТНІХ ІНЖЕНЕРІВ-ПРОГРАМІСТІВ

The paper provides an in-depth analysis of existing the scientific developments in the vector of use and consideration of cognitive styles of students in the educational process, during which the authors determined that most of them are only informative and do not disclose cognitive styles in terms of methodological recommendations, the psychological and pedagogical aspects of the fundamental type, in connection with which they conclude about the relevance and need for further research in order to develop the recommendations for the creation of methodological complexes. The author emphasizes the need to develop the educational and methodological complexes taking into account the cognitive styles of students in order to increase the level of perception of information by students. The author sees the problem in the contradiction between the pace of training of highly qualified personnel and the ever-increasing need of employers for workers, which leads to the immediate need to reduce training time and further reduce the quality of knowledge of young professionals. Researcher say that the solution to the problem can be partially achieved by taking into account the cognitive styles of students at the stage of developing new or editing existing guidelines, which will accelerate the pace of information perception by students. In the course of the research, the authors cite the meaning of the terms “cognitive approach” and “procedural-cognitive approach”, which they plan to use in further research and offer recommendations for developing methodological materials for training future software engineers based on cognitive styles, typologies of students. The author emphasizes that all the results of the work were made during the experimental study of learning outcomes during the study of the discipline “Object-Oriented Programming”.

Consideration of cognitive styles as a method of solving the problem of intensification of professional training of future software engineers

Consideration of cognitive styles as a method of solving the problem of intensification of professional training of future software engineers