Using object oriented technology to measure a software process
Amund Aarsten, Maurizio Morisio · 1996
This paper reports on how object oriented concepts and technology have been applied to measure a software process in the ESSI AEFTA (Application Enabler Technology for Factory Automation) application experiment. Measurement is considered as a full scale project consisting of 1) modelling the software process, 2) defining goals for the project, 3) formalizing goals in process measures defined on the process model, 4) designing the technological support for measures (procedures and tools, repository), 5) implementing the technological support, 6) implementing the measurement process and 7) assessing the measurement process, modifying it, if needed. The object oriented (oo) approach has been applied to 1), 4) and 5). The process model is defined using OMT; process measures are defined using a query language to express queries on OMT object models; the repository for measures is obtained by automatic translation of the OMT process model into a set of persistent C++ classes; process measures are manually translated in C++ member functions of the persistent classes. The advantages of applying the oo approach are discussed: sharing of tools, training, know-how and mindset with the rest of the project; ease in changing measures to adapt to changes in the process, thus the possibility of applying an evolutionary incremental lifecycle to the measurement process; lower effort in the implementation of the technological support for measurement.