Nordin, A (2013) Constructing component-based systems directly from requirements using incremental composition. PhD thesis, University of Manchester, UK.
Abstract
In software engineering, system construction typically starts from a requirements specification that has been engineered from raw requirements in a natural language. The specification is used to derive intermediate requirements models such as structured or object-oriented models. Throughout the stages of system construction, these artefacts will be used as reference models. In general, in order to derive a design specification out of the requirements, the entire set of requirements specifications has to be analysed. Such models at best only approximate the raw requirements since these design models are derived as a result of the abstraction process according to the chosen software development methodology, and subjected to the expertise, intuition, judgment and experiences of the analysts or designers of the system. These abstraction models require the analysts to elicit all useful information from the requirements, and there is a potential risk that some information may be lost in the process of model construction. As the use of natural language requirements in system construction is inevitable, the central focus of this study was to use requirements stated in natural language in contrast to any other requirements representation (e. g. modelling artefact). In this thesis, an approach that avoids intermediate requirements models, and maps natural language requirements directly into architectural constructs, and thus minimises information loss during the model construction process, has been defined. This approach has been grounded on the adoption of a component model that supports incremental composition. Incremental composition allows a system to be constructed piece by piece. By mapping a raw requirement to elements of the component model, a partial architecture that satisfies that requirement is constructed. Consequently, by iterating this process for all the requirements, one at a time, the incremental composition to build the system piece by piece directly from the requirements can be achieved. In software engineering, system construction typically starts from a requirements specification that has been engineered from raw requirements in a natural language. The specification is used to derive intermediate requirements models such as structured or object-oriented models. Throughout the stages of system construction, these artefacts will be used as reference models. In general, in order to derive a design specification out of the requirements, the entire set of requirements specifications has to be analysed. Such models at best only approximate the raw requirements since these design models are derived as a result of the abstraction process according to the chosen software development methodology, and subjected to the expertise, intuition, judgment and experiences of the analysts or designers of the system. These abstraction models require the analysts to elicit all useful information from the requirements, and there is a potential risk that some information may be lost in the process of model construction. As the use of natural language requirements in system construction is inevitable, the central focus of this study was to use requirements stated in natural language in contrast to any other requirements representation (e. g. modelling artefact). In this thesis, an approach that avoids intermediate requirements models, and maps natural language requirements directly into architectural constructs, and thus minimises information loss during the model construction process, has been defined. This approach has been grounded on the adoption of a component model that supports incremental composition. Incremental composition allows a system to be constructed piece by piece. By mapping a raw requirement to elements of the component model, a partial architecture that satisfies that requirement is constructed. Consequently, by iterating this process for all the requirements, one at a time, the incremental composition to build the system piece by piece directly from the requirements can be achieved.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Lau, K-K |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | specification |
| Index terms: | software development, maps, specification, design model, software engineering, artefact, methodology, construction process, design specification, mapping, intuition, judgment, designer, modelling |
| Subjects: | contractual condition, software systems, design practice, sociology, dispute resolution, profession, design process, research methods, spatial and geospatial analysis, cognitive psychology, building construction, analytical methods |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Design Practice, Contract Administration, Site Management, Engineering Principles, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here