HP Labs Technical Reports

The Smart Approach for Software Process Engineering

Garg, Pankaj K.; Mi, Peiwei; Pham, Thuan Q.; Scacchi, Walt; Thunquest, Gary

HPL-93-93

Keyword(s):

Abstract: Software engineering practices can be improved by explicitly modeling and analyzing the processes used to develop, maintain, and evolve large-scale software systems. Such models can be embedded within software engineering environments to provide Process-Centered Software Engineering Environments (PSEEs). The PSEEs can help automate, enforce, and monitor aspects of the software process. In this paper we describe a methodology for software process engineering - the process life-cycle - and an environment, SMART, that supports it. SMART supports the modeling and analysis of software processes and uses the process models to generate a PSEE. SMART's process monitoring capabilities can be used to provide feedback from the process execution to the process model. SMART represents the integration of three separately developed process mechanisms. and it uses two modeling formalisms (object-oriented data representation and imperative-style programming language) to bridge the gap between process modeling, analysis, and execution. In this manner, SMART demonstrates the meta-environment concept, using a process modeling formalism as input specification to a generator that produces PSEEs. Furthermore, SMART also supports a team-oriented approach for process modeling, analysis, and execution.

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