Model-Driven Evolution of Software Architectures - Software and ...
Model-Driven Evolution of Software Architectures - Software and ...
Model-Driven Evolution of Software Architectures - Software and ...
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54 Chapter3. State<strong>of</strong>thePractice<br />
projects. Thecompanyusedthesubsystemsinshort-termprojectstoinstantiateproducts.<br />
Anothercompanyhadaspecialprojectthatmadereusablecomponents<br />
foracertainsubsystem<strong>of</strong>theproductarchitecture. Thecompanyused<br />
RationalRoseRealTimetodevelopthesecomponentsasexecutablemodels.<br />
Somecompaniespractisedreusebydevelopinggeneralplatformsontop<br />
<strong>of</strong>whichtheydevelopeddifferentproducts.Thisstrategyiscloselyrelated<br />
toproductlines,whichare<strong>of</strong>tendefinedperplatform.<br />
3.6 Discussion<br />
Youmightwellask,arethesesurveyresultsrepresentative<strong>of</strong>thewhole<br />
embedded-s<strong>of</strong>twaredomain? Byinterviewingseveralrespondentswith<br />
differentrolesineachcompany,wetriedtogetarepresentativeunderst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> that company’s embedded-s<strong>of</strong>tware-development processes.<br />
Theamount<strong>of</strong>newinformationgatheredduringsuccessiveinterviewsdecreased.So,weconcludedwedidhavearepresentativeunderst<strong>and</strong>ingfor<br />
thatcompany.<br />
Withrespecttoembedded-s<strong>of</strong>twaredevelopmentingeneral,webelieve<br />
thatthelargenumber<strong>of</strong>respondents<strong>and</strong>thecompanies’diversity<strong>of</strong>size,<br />
products,<strong>and</strong>country<strong>of</strong>originmakethisinventory’sresultsrepresentative,forEuropeatleast.However,whetherwecanextendtheseresultsto<br />
otherareas(e.g.,theUnitedStates)isquestionable.<br />
Anotherpointfordiscussionisthatthemethods,tools,<strong>and</strong>techniques<br />
thecompaniesusedwererathergenerals<strong>of</strong>twareengineeringtechnologies.<br />
Weexpectedthatthecompanieswouldusemorespecialisedtoolsinthis<br />
domain. Memory,power,<strong>and</strong>real-timerequirementswerefarlessprominentdurings<strong>of</strong>twaredevelopmentthanweexpected.That’sbecausemost<br />
generals<strong>of</strong>twareengineeringtechnologiesdidn’thavespecialfeaturesfor<br />
dealingwiththeserequirements.Tailoringcanbeasolutiontothisproblem,butitinvolvesmucheffort,<strong>and</strong>theresultis<strong>of</strong>tentoospecifictoapplytootherprocesses.Makings<strong>of</strong>twaredevelopmenttechnologiesmoreflexiblecanhelpmaketailoringmoreattractive.So,flexibles<strong>of</strong>twaredevelopmenttechnologiesarenecessary.Here,withflexiblewemean,forinstance,requirementsmanagementtoolsthatallowtomodifythetypes<strong>and</strong>characteristics<strong>of</strong>themanagedrequirements,ormodeltransformationtoolsthatallowtotransformmodelsinarbitrarymodellinglanguages,instead<strong>of</strong>beingrestrictedtoUML.<br />
Wenoticedarelativelylargegapbetweentheinventory’sresults<strong>and</strong><br />
theavailables<strong>of</strong>twaredevelopmenttechnologies.Whyisn’tindustryusing<br />
many<strong>of</strong>thesetechnologies?Duringtheinterviews,respondentsmentioned<br />
severalreasons.Welookatthree<strong>of</strong>themhere.
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