Set Of Software Systems Research Articles

USING METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES OF RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMIC SOFTWARE PRODUCT LINES CONFIGURATION

Software product lines (SPL) dynamic configuring process could use methods for recommendation system (RS) elaboration. An overview and analysis of such methods was done in this paper. SPL represent a set of software systems that have common and variable functional components and use a set of paradigms and methods for development. In the classical static SPL the process of configuring performed before executing and performing in the operation environment (OE), in contrast dynamic software product lines performs after executing in the OE. Through the use of which it is possible to customize software solutions in accordance with the needs of end users. The following possible methods to build RS were considered: clustering, Markov decision-making process, matrix factorization. According to the review of the intelligent RS method development and researching of the functionalities of such systems in some open-source projects it was proposed to use N-dimensional context-dependent tensor factorization method and CARSkit tool system. Functional requirements and software architecture of the RS were developed. It allows to automatize software components configuration in the „Smart Home” (SH) systems that could be implemented with CARSkit software toolkit and algorithms implemented with programming language Python. This implementation allows to build a process for tracking changes in the external environment and transfer information to the SH system and, after analyzing the input data, process it in the RS to track changes in the context information. In the future research some additional quantitative experiments will be performed considering the specifics of the SH systems, additionally quantitative metrics will be used for efficiency assessment of the tensor factorization algorithms to predict the dynamic configurations of software components in these systems.
 Keywords: recommendation system, software product line, variability, dynamic configuration, architecture.

A SURVEY ON SOFTWARE PRODUCT-LINE TESTING

SPL (Software Product Line) is known as a set of software systems that share a mutual set of features. It is a powerful concept to achieve more efficient software system development. One of the necessary steps in software development processes is Testing. It consumes typically more than 50% of the whole development costs. Testing SPLs is challenging due to the exponential number of products in the number of features. Several approaches have been proposed to reduce the number of products to be tested. However, the testing aspect of SPL is still underdeveloped. This study aims at surveying the latest research on SPL testing to identify useful approaches and needs for future research. seven papers are classified concerning the following: the used Approach, the algorithms, and the type of testing that the research focuses on. The survey found that more validation and evaluation research is required to produce a more robust foundation for SPL testing. Finally, directions for future software product line testing recommendations.

Mining Key Classes in Java Projects by Examining a Very Small Number of Classes: A Complex Network-Based Approach

Key classes have become excellent starting points for developers to understand unknown software systems. Up to now, a variety of approaches have been proposed to mine key classes in a software project. Many of them are based on a network representation (namely, software networks) of the software projects. However, the software networks they used are usually un-weighted and un-directed, which is not consistent with the reality in a real software project where the coupling actually has direction and strength. Worse still, the number of key class candidates returned by existing approaches is usually very large. Thus, it is usually infeasible for developers to start the comprehension process from these classes, especially when there are tight time and resource constraints. To tackle these problems, in this paper, we propose an approach named MinClass, to Mine key Classes in Java projects by examining a very small number of classes. First, the software structure at the class level is represented by a weighted directed software network, which considers both the coupling strength and direction between every pair of classes. Second, we propose a new metric, OSE (One-order Structural Entropy), and use it to calculate the importance of each class in the system. Finally, we sort classes in descending order according to their OSE values, and a small number of top-ranked classes are treated as the key class candidates identified by MinClass. Experiments are performed on six open-source Java projects, and comparison studies with other eight state-of-the-art approaches are also performed. Results show that, although no one method performs best in all software systems, MinClass is the most promising one. It performs best in the whole set of software systems according to the average ranking of the Friedman test. Thus, MinClass is a valuable technique that can be used to mine the key classes.

A Method Based on Naming Similarity to Identify Reuse Opportunities

Software reuse is a development strategy in which existing software components are used to implement new software systems. There are many advantages of applying software reuse, such as minimization of development efforts and improvement of software quality. Few methods have been proposed in the literature for recommendation of reuse opportunities. In this paper, we propose a method for identification and recommendation of reuse opportunities based on the similarity of the names of classes. Our method, called JReuse, computes a similarity function to identify similarly named classes from a set of software systems from a specific domain. The identified classes compose a repository with reuse opportunities. We also present a prototype tool to support the proposed method. We applied our method, through the tool, to 72 software systems mined from GitHub, in 4 different domains: accounting, restaurant, hospital, and e-commerce. In total, these systems have 1,567,337 lines of code, 57,017 methods, and 12,598 classes. As a result, we observe that JReuse is able to identify the main classes that are frequent in each selected domain.

Feature dependencies as change propagators: An exploratory study of software product lines

ContextA Software Product Line (SPL) is a set of software systems that share common functionalities, so-called features. When features are related, we consider this relation a feature dependency. Whenever a new feature is added, the presence of feature dependencies in the source code may increase the maintenance effort. In particular, along the maintenance of SPL implementation, added features may induce changes in other features, the so-called change propagation. Change propagation is the set of ripple changes required to other features whenever a particular feature is added or changed. ObjectiveThe relationship between feature dependency and change propagation is not well understood. Therefore, the objective of our study is to examine the relation between feature dependency and change propagation. MethodWe investigate change propagation through feature dependencies in additive changes on five evolving SPLs. We analysed a wide range of additive changes in 21 representations of those SPLs. This analysis enabled us to understand whether and how features dependencies and change propagations are related. ResultsThe results have empirically confirmed for the first time the strong relation between feature dependency and change propagation. We also identified what are the circumstances involving dependent features that are more likely to cause change propagation. Surprisingly, the results also suggested that the extent of change propagation across SPL features might be higher than the one found in previous studies of dependent modules in non-SPLs. We also found a concentration of change propagation in a few feature dependencies. ConclusionEven though the results show that there is a strong relation between feature dependencies and change propagation, such relation is not alike for all dependencies. This indicates that (i) a general feature dependency minimisation might not ameliorate the change propagation, and (ii) feature dependency properties must be analysed beforehand to drive maintenance effort to important dependencies.

Ontology-based feature modeling: An empirical study in changing scenarios

A software product line (SPL) is a set of software systems that have a particular set of common features and that satisfy the needs of a particular market segment or mission. Feature modeling is one of the key activities involved in the design of SPLs. The feature diagram produced in this activity captures the commonalities and variabilities of SPLs. In some complex domains (e.g., ubiquitous computing, autonomic systems and context-aware computing), it is difficult to foresee all functionalities and variabilities a specific SPL may require. Thus, Dynamic Software Product Lines (DSPLs) bind variation points at runtime to adapt to fluctuations in user needs as well as to adapt to changes in the environment. In this context, relying on formal representations of feature models is important to allow them to be automatically analyzed during system execution. Among the mechanisms used for representing and analyzing feature models, description logic (DL) based approaches demand to be better investigated in DSPLs since it provides capabilities, such as automated inconsistency detection, reasoning efficiency, scalability and expressivity. Ontology is the most common way to represent feature models knowledge based on DL reasoners. Previous works conceived ontologies for feature modeling either based on OWL classes and properties or based on OWL individuals. However, considering change or evolution scenarios of feature models, we need to compare whether a class-based or an individual-based feature modeling style is recommended to describe feature models to support SPLs, and especially its capabilities to deal with changes in feature models, as required by DSPLs. In this paper, we conduct a controlled experiment to empirically compare two approaches based on each one of these modeling styles in several changing scenarios (e.g., add/remove mandatory feature, add/remove optional feature and so on). We measure time to perform changes, structural impact of changes (flexibility) and correctness for performing changes in our experiment. Our results indicate that using OWL individuals requires less time to change and is more flexible than using OWL classes and properties. These results provide insightful assumptions towards the definition of an approach relying on reasoning capabilities of ontologies that can effectively support products reconfiguration in the context of DSPL.

Research and Development of Statistical Analysis Software System of Maize Seedling Experiment

In this study, software engineer measures were used to develop a set of software system for maize seedling experiments statistics and analysis works. During development works, B/S structure software design method was used and a set of statistics indicators for maize seedling evaluation were established. The experiments results indicated that this set of software system could finish quality statistics and analysis for maize seedling very well. The development of this software system explored a new method for screening of maize seedlings.

Role of Web Services in migration of Legacy System to Service-Oriented Architecture

Managing the convolution of systems is considered as a key confront in computing and is transact with numerous expansion projected at enhanced computerization. Service-oriented architectures (SOA) are predicted to facilitate the prerequisite of a large quantity of varied and contending web services which the potential users will be capable to prefer dynamically, in the intend of receiving at every instance to the best possible assistance for their rationales. Web Services are set of software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. To be adjustable, service arrangement should be performed by energetically picking and compiling the contributing services according to numerous eminence standards, so that the users persistently obtain best possible outcome.

A formal framework for software product lines

ContextA Software Product Line is a set of software systems that are built from a common set of features. These systems are developed in a prescribed way and they can be adapted to fit the needs of customers. Feature models specify the properties of the systems that are meaningful to customers. A semantics that models the feature level has the potential to support the automatic analysis of entire software product lines. ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to define a formal framework for Software Product Lines. This framework needs to be general enough to provide a formal semantics for existing frameworks like FODA (Feature Oriented Domain Analysis), but also to be easily adaptable to new problems. MethodWe define an algebraic language, called SPLA, to describe Software Product Lines. We provide the semantics for the algebra in three different ways. The approach followed to give the semantics is inspired by the semantics of process algebras. First we define an operational semantics, next a denotational semantics, and finally an axiomatic semantics. We also have defined a representation of the algebra into propositional logic. ResultsWe prove that the three semantics are equivalent. We also show how FODA diagrams can be automatically translated into SPLA. Furthermore, we have developed our tool, called AT, that implements the formal framework presented in this paper. This tool uses a SAT-solver to check the satisfiability of an SPL. ConclusionThis paper defines a general formal framework for software product lines. We have defined three different semantics that are equivalent; this means that depending on the context we can choose the most convenient approach: operational, denotational or axiomatic. The framework is flexible enough because it is closely related to process algebras. Process algebras are a well-known paradigm for which many extensions have been defined.

FeatureIDE: An extensible framework for feature-oriented software development

FeatureIDE is an open-source framework for feature-oriented software development (FOSD) based on Eclipse. FOSD is a paradigm for the construction, customization, and synthesis of software systems. Code artifacts are mapped to features, and a customized software system can be generated given a selection of features. The set of software systems that can be generated is called a software product line (SPL). FeatureIDE supports several FOSD implementation techniques such as feature-oriented programming, aspect-oriented programming, delta-oriented programming, and preprocessors. All phases of FOSD are supported in FeatureIDE, namely domain analysis, requirements analysis, domain implementation, and software generation.

Development of a plug-in for Variability Modeling in Software Product Lines

Software Product Lines (SPL) take economic advantage of commonality and variability among a set of software systems that exist within a specific domain. Therefore, Software Product Line Engineering defines a series of processes for the development of a SPL that consider commonality and variability during the software life cycle. Variability modeling is therefore an essential activity in a Software Product Line Engineering approach. There are several techniques for variability modeling nowadays. COVAMOF stands out among them since it allows the modeling of variation points, variants and dependencies as first class elements. COVAMOF, therefore, provides an uniform manner for representing such concepts in different levels of abstraction within a SPL. In order to take advantage of COVAMOF benefits, it is necessary to have a computer aided tool, otherwise variability modeling and management canbe a hard tasks for the software engineer. This paper presents the development of a Eclipse plug-in for COVAMOF.

Verification framework and algorithms for integrating information distribution systems

When two competitive companies merge into one bigger company, reusing existing technical resources in each company to form a common technology becomes a priority integration task. One of the specific problems occurring during integration is the resulting integrated scopes' requirements specifications become faulty while integrating two sets of software systems from two participating companies. The integrated scopes refer to the domains of information software systems, business policies, business processes, business rules, interface functions, and data that are being integrated in each participating company. Using a Transition-Directed Graph (TDG) representation, specified requirements involved in the integration will be represented in a form of TDG to be analyzed for faults. Five efficient algorithms are developed to identify faults in the resulting TDG formatted requirement specifications. Four correction algorithms are also developed to correct detected faults found in the TDG formatted requirements specifications.

Software systems for Computational Morphology—An Overview

Representative sets of software systems for computational morphology are evaluated as candiates for a general morphological program module in the context of computer-aided word class tagging. They are considered as both programming tools and representations of linguistic Knowledge. The systems, which are found to be relatively neutral with respect to linguistic theory, can be grouped into a general-purpose and a special-purpose type. Pattern matching in them is described as a high-level feature applied to the computational treatment of phenomena characteristic of morphological analysis: lexical lookup, morphotactics, and morphophonemic alternation. The systems are found to perform similarly in simple applications, but significantly differently in more complicated ones where integrated and well-structured solutions are sought.