Abstracts E185EW TA: David Luong

An Abstract Requirements management is being recognized as one of the most important albeit difficult phases in software engineering. The literature repeatedly cites the role of well-defined requirements and requirements management process in problem analysis and project management as benefiting software development throughout the life cycle: during design, coding, testing, maintenance and documentation of software. However, management is often oblivious of this concept, steering off-course in projects where lost time equals lost revenue. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into industrial practice of requirements management process improvement and its positive effects on downstream software development. The evidence reveals a strong relationship between a well-defined requirements process and increased developer productivity, improved project planning through better estimations and enhanced ability for stakeholders to negotiate project scope. These results are important since there is little empirical evidence of the actual benefits of sound requirements practice, in spite of the plethora of claims in the literature. An account of these effects not only adds to our understanding of good requirements practice but also provides strong motivation for software organizations to develop programs for improvement of their requirements processes.

Purpose Selection – Helps readers decide whether to read the entire paper Indexing – Facilitates searching on online databases using keywords and phrases

The Elements Motivation/Problem Statement Approach Results Conclusions Example – Requirements Engineering and Software Development

Review You already know this…what are the 5 elements of a problem statement? Status Quo Destabilizing Moment Questions Consequences Solution ( not necessarily needed for your case study )

Motivation/Problem Statement Basically you want to state why we care about the problem. If not obviously interesting, you’ll need to motivate it. Use the 5 elements of a problem statement, some of which may be designated to the other elements of an abstract. Example: "Requirements management is being recognized as one of the most important albeit difficult phases in software engineering. The literature repeatedly cites the role of well-defined requirements and requirements management process in problem analysis and project management as benefiting software development throughout the life cycle: during design, coding, testing, maintenance and documentation of software. However, management is often oblivious of this concept, steering off-course in projects where lost time equals lost revenue.”

Approach How did you solve the problem or make progress in your attempt? Example: “This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into industrial practice of requirements management process improvement and its positive effects on downstream software development. ”

Results What are your findings from your approach? “The evidence reveals a strong relationship between a well-defined requirements process and increased developer productivity, improved project planning through better estimations and enhanced ability for stakeholders to negotiate project scope.”

Conclusions What are the implications of your results? “These results are important since there is little empirical evidence of the actual benefits of sound requirements practice, in spite of the plethora of claims in the literature. An account of these effects not only adds to our understanding of good requirements practice but also provides strong motivation for software organizations to develop programs for improvement of their requirements processes.”

Abstract Activity In the personal computing world, Intel plays the dominant role in inventing microprocessor technologies. The company sets the processor standards and most consumer level software are created to run on the systems using Intel's chips. Since the 1960's, the complexity of its processors has increased significantly and the company seemed to manage various issues very well until the crisis in 1994 happened. In 1993, the new Pentium processor, also called P5, was released to the public. The new chip promised faster computing and better experience over the previous chip. The Pentium chip was a huge success worldwide, following the legacies of the predecessors. However, about a year after the initial release, a problem was perceived by mathematics professor Thomas Nicely. After confirming the chip flaw through various tests, Dr. Nicely notified Intel of the problem. However, having the knowledge of the flaw even before his call, Intel tried to cover up the problem by ignoring that such a flaw does not exist. Unfortunately, the words got out from people, whom Dr. Nicely had also sent the message to, and took a widespread in the media. Eventually, after a couple of months later, Intel had to provide replacements for all the chips they sold, costing the company a huge fortune when only a portion could have been wasted if the problem was dealt earlier. The following sections will cover the issues that Intel experienced as a large corporation and discuss ethical conflicts the company faced over the period. As executives of an IT company, readers are encouraged to think about the nature of the problem and how these ethical lapses may be prevented in case of similar events occurring in the future. Break off into your teams. Read the abstract. – Team 4: Motivation/Problem Statement – Team 5: Approach/Results – Team 6: Conclusions Discuss the following in regards to your Abstract Element: – What works well in this abstract? – What is problematic? – What would you change?

A Better Revision? In the personal computing world, Intel plays the dominant role in inventing microprocessor technologies. The company sets the processor standards and most consumer level software are created to run on the systems using Intel's chips. Since the 1960's, the complexity and reliability of its processors increased significantly until the FDIV bug and cover up in The paper is directed to IT executives and cover the historical details of the Pentium error. The case reveals a strong relationship between popular ethical frameworks and the decisions Intel made in resolving the issue with the public. An account of this case not only adds to our understanding of engineering events in the real- world but also provides a connection between the technical decisions made and their ethical implications.

References Koopman, Phillip, “How to Write an Abstract,” URL: tml tml Damian, D., Chisan, J., Lakshminarayanan, V., Yogendra, P., “Requirements Engineering and Downstream Software Development: Findings from a Case Study,” URL: cr.uclm.es/doc/MetoTecInfInf/casosEstudio/case%20st udy%203.pdfhttp://alarcos.inf- cr.uclm.es/doc/MetoTecInfInf/casosEstudio/case%20st udy%203.pdf

Self Reflection On your essay you’ll turn in today, please answer the following questions: What are you satisfied in your draft? What gave you difficulties? What would you like the TA to address in his review of your paper? How long did you spend writing your draft?