Scientific Papers
ISSI Research PapersPaper information
Title
Bridging the Gap between Model-driven Development and Web Project Estimation
Bridging the Gap between Model-driven Development and Web Project Estimation
Authors
Silvia Abrahao
Silvia Abrahao
Published in
Invited Conference at the Int. Workshop on Web Quality, Verification and Validation, co-located with the 7th Int. Conference on Web Engineering (ICWE 2007), Como, Italy, July 2007, M. Brambilla and E. Mendes (Eds.), ISBN: 978-88-902405-2-2, pp. 321-322. - 2007
Invited Conference at the Int. Workshop on Web Quality, Verification and Validation, co-located with the 7th Int. Conference on Web Engineering (ICWE 2007), Como, Italy, July 2007, M. Brambilla and E. Mendes (Eds.), ISBN: 978-88-902405-2-2, pp. 321-322. - 2007
Abstract
Developing Web applications is significantly different from traditional software development. The nature of Web development forces project managers to focus primarily on the time variable in order to achieve the required short cycle times. In this context, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) approaches seem to be very promising since Web development can be viewed as a process of transforming a model into another model until it can be executed in a development environment. Over the last few years, several Web development methods that provide some support to MDA have been proposed (e.g., WebML, OO-HDM, W2000, OO-H). Adopting such methods, however, poses new challenges to the Web project manager, in particular with respect to resource estimation and project planning. A fundamental problem in this context is the size estimation of the future Web application based on its conceptual model. The functional size measurement (FSM) methods used in industry date from a pre-Web era. None of the ISO-standard FSM methods (e.g., IFPUG FPA, NESMA FPA, COSMIC) were designed taking the particular features of Web applications into account. Therefore, existing FSM methods need to be adapted or extended to cope with Web projects. Some approaches for sizing Web projects have been proposed in the last few years. The main limitation of these approaches is that they cannot be used early in the Web development life cycle as they rely on implementation decisions. Furthermore, for project estimation purposes, measurements of this type come too late. This talk discusses the benefits and challenges of using size estimates obtained at the conceptual model level of a Web application. In particular, it shows how measurement procedures for Web size estimation can be defined as a mapping between two metamodels: the metamodel of an ISO-standard FSM method and the metamodel of a Web development method. The definition and automation of a model-driven measurement procedure for Web applications using this approach will be presented in detail, as well as its use for Web effort and productivity estimation. Several aspects of the validation of FSM methods will also be analyzed. The talk finishes by showing the research directions that can have a significant impact on the estimation of Web projects.
Developing Web applications is significantly different from traditional software development. The nature of Web development forces project managers to focus primarily on the time variable in order to achieve the required short cycle times. In this context, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) approaches seem to be very promising since Web development can be viewed as a process of transforming a model into another model until it can be executed in a development environment. Over the last few years, several Web development methods that provide some support to MDA have been proposed (e.g., WebML, OO-HDM, W2000, OO-H). Adopting such methods, however, poses new challenges to the Web project manager, in particular with respect to resource estimation and project planning. A fundamental problem in this context is the size estimation of the future Web application based on its conceptual model. The functional size measurement (FSM) methods used in industry date from a pre-Web era. None of the ISO-standard FSM methods (e.g., IFPUG FPA, NESMA FPA, COSMIC) were designed taking the particular features of Web applications into account. Therefore, existing FSM methods need to be adapted or extended to cope with Web projects. Some approaches for sizing Web projects have been proposed in the last few years. The main limitation of these approaches is that they cannot be used early in the Web development life cycle as they rely on implementation decisions. Furthermore, for project estimation purposes, measurements of this type come too late. This talk discusses the benefits and challenges of using size estimates obtained at the conceptual model level of a Web application. In particular, it shows how measurement procedures for Web size estimation can be defined as a mapping between two metamodels: the metamodel of an ISO-standard FSM method and the metamodel of a Web development method. The definition and automation of a model-driven measurement procedure for Web applications using this approach will be presented in detail, as well as its use for Web effort and productivity estimation. Several aspects of the validation of FSM methods will also be analyzed. The talk finishes by showing the research directions that can have a significant impact on the estimation of Web projects.
BibTeX
@misc{issi_web:id:233,
title = "Bridging the Gap between Model-driven Development and Web Project Estimation",
author = "Silvia Abrahao",
booktitle = "Invited Conference at the Int. Workshop on Web Quality, Verification and Validation, co-located with the 7th Int. Conference on Web Engineering (ICWE 2007), Como, Italy, July 2007, M. Brambilla and E. Mendes (Eds.), ISBN: 978-88-902405-2-2, pp. 321-322.",
year = "2007",
eprint = "http://issi.dsic.upv.es/publications/archives/",
url = "",
abstract = "Developing Web applications is significantly different from traditional software development. The nature of Web development forces project managers to focus primarily on the time variable in order to achieve the required short cycle times. In this context, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) approaches seem to be very promising since Web development can be viewed as a process of transforming a model into another model until it can be executed in a development environment.
Over the last few years, several Web development methods that provide some support to MDA have been proposed (e.g., WebML, OO-HDM, W2000, OO-H). Adopting such methods, however, poses new challenges to the Web project manager, in particular with respect to resource estimation and project planning.
A fundamental problem in this context is the size estimation of the future Web application based on its conceptual model. The functional size measurement (FSM) methods used in industry date from a pre-Web era. None of the ISO-standard FSM methods (e.g., IFPUG FPA, NESMA FPA, COSMIC) were designed taking the particular features of Web applications into account. Therefore, existing FSM methods need to be adapted or extended to cope with Web projects. Some approaches for sizing Web projects have been proposed in the last few years. The main limitation of these approaches is that they cannot be used early in the Web development life cycle as they rely on implementation decisions. Furthermore, for project estimation purposes, measurements of this type come too late.
This talk discusses the benefits and challenges of using size estimates obtained at the conceptual model level of a Web application. In particular, it shows how measurement procedures for Web size estimation can be defined as a mapping between two metamodels: the metamodel of an ISO-standard FSM method and the metamodel of a Web development method. The definition and automation of a model-driven measurement procedure for Web applications using this approach will be presented in detail, as well as its use for Web effort and productivity estimation. Several aspects of the validation of FSM methods will also be analyzed. The talk finishes by showing the research directions that can have a significant impact on the estimation of Web projects."
}