Descriptive vs prescriptive models in industry

Heldal, Rogardt; Pelliccione, Patrizio; Eliasson, Ulf; Lantz, Jonn; Derehag, Jesper; Whittle, Jon

doi:10.1145/2976767.2976808

Cited by 24 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The Venn diagram shown in Figure 1 (adopted from [24]) visually depicts these concepts . Note that the terminology offered by [23] focuses on "prescriptive modeling", but in the literature, there is also "descriptive modeling" terminology, in which sketching plays an important role while modeling (e.g., [18], [25,26]). However, while designing our survey, we counted "informal sketch" as a part of MBE since these diagrams don't "drive" the development process and they have less lifespan and archivability than the ones used in MDE [26].…”

Section: Mbe Versus Mde and Mddmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The purpose of the modeling and the category of software modeling (e.g., sketch, model-based or modeldriven) are strongly related with the medium used [26]. It is possible that some of the respondents were referring to descriptive modeling and others to prescriptive modeling while answering this question as in [18]. If there is no autogeneration of any software artifacts (e.g., code, document or test scriptsas in the case of model-based usage, which includes "sketching" in the survey), analog media like paper or whiteboard are enough for communication or understanding a problem at an abstract level.…”

Section: Degree Of Using Software Modeling In Sdlc (Q10)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the other extreme, for some other stakeholders (e.g., software developers), modeling turns into programming with automated generation of code and these diagrams have long lifespans and demand for archivability. Moreover, even in the same software project, different units within the same company can use different modeling approaches for different purposes [18]. Since a large variety of modeling practices is used in embedded software industry, it is important to identify different modeling approaches, in relation with challenges and benefits they provide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A survey on modeling and model-driven engineering practices in the embedded software industry

Akdur

Garousi

Demirörs

2018

Journal of Systems Architecture

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Software-intensive embedded systems have become an essential aspect of our lives. To cope with its growing complexity, modeling and model-driven engineering (MDE) are widely used for analysis, design, implementation, and testing of these systems. Since a large variety of software modeling practices is used in the domain of embedded software, it is important to understand and characterize thestate-of-the-practices and also the benefits, challenges and consequences of using software modeling approaches in this domain. The goal of this study is to investigate those practices in the embedded software engineering projects by identifying to what degree, why and how software modeling and MDE are used. To achieve this objective, we designed and conducted an online survey. Opinions of 627 practicing embedded software engineers from 27 different countries are included in the survey. The survey results reveal important and interesting findings about the state of software modeling and MDE practices in the worldwide embedded software industry. Among the results: (1) Different modeling approaches (from informal sketches to formalized models) are widely used in the embedded software industry with different needs and all of the usages could be effective depending on the various modeling characteristics; (2) The majority of participants use UML; and the second most frequently selected response is "Sketch/No formal modeling language", which shows the widespread informal usage of modeling; (3) In model-driven approaches, it is not so important to have a graphical syntax to represent the model (as in UML) and depending on the type of target embedded industrial sector, modeling stakeholders prefer models, which can represented in a format that is readable by a machine (as in DSL); (4) Sequence diagrams and state-machines are the two most popular diagram types; (5) Top motivations for adopting MDE are: cost savings, achieving shorter development time, reusability and quality improvement. The survey results will shed light on the state of software modeling and MDE practices and provide practical benefits to embedded software professionals (e.g., practitioners, researchers and also educators).

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Section: Mbe Versus Mde and Mddmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Degree Of Using Software Modeling In Sdlc (Q10)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A survey on modeling and model-driven engineering practices in the embedded software industry

Akdur

Garousi

Demirörs

2018

Journal of Systems Architecture

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“…Another classification of models that we considered in this study are descriptive versus prescriptive artifacts . Descriptive artifacts “describe a subject that already exists,” which can be implicit in the modeler's mind (an idea of the future architecture) or explicit (eg, capturing an already running system).…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary objects and their use in agile systems engineering

Wohlrab

Knauss

Larsson

2019

J Software Evolu Process

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Summary Agile methods are increasingly introduced in automotive companies in the attempt to become more efficient and flexible in the system development. The adoption of agile practices influences communication between stakeholders and makes companies rethink the management of artifacts and documentation like requirements, safety compliance documents, and architecture models. Practitioners aim to reduce irrelevant documentation but face a lack of guidance to determine what artifacts are needed and how they should be managed. This paper presents artifacts, challenges, guidelines, and practices for the continuous management of systems engineering artifacts in automotive based on a theoretical and empirical understanding of the topic. In collaboration with 53 practitioners from six automotive companies, we conducted a design‐science study involving interviews, a questionnaire, focus groups, and practical data analysis of a systems engineering tool. The guidelines suggest the distinction between artifacts that are shared among different actors in a company (boundary objects) and those that are used within a team (locally relevant artifacts). We propose an analysis approach to identify boundary objects and three practices to manage systems engineering artifacts in industry.

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“…Heldal et al [11] presented a classification of models: Descriptive artifacts "describe a subject that already exists", either implicitly in the modeler's mind (an idea of the future architecture) or explicitly (e.g., representing an already running system). Prescriptive artifacts are used to create a subject that does not exist yet, e.g., models used for code or artifact generation.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary objects in Agile practices

Wohlrab

Knauss

Larsson

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Software and System Process

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Automotive companies increasingly include proven agile methods in their plan-driven system development. The adoption of agile methods impacts not only the way individuals collaborate, but also the management of artifacts like requirements, test cases, safety documentation, and models. While practitioners aim to reduce unnecessary documentation, there is a lack of guidance for automotive companies with respect to what artifacts are needed and how to manage them. To close this knowledge gap and create practical guidelines, we conducted a design-science study together with 53 practitioners from six automotive companies. Using interviews, surveys, and focus groups, we analyzed categories of artifacts and practical challenges to create applicable guidelines to collaboratively manage artifacts in agile automotive contexts. Our findings indicate that different practices are required to manage artifacts that are shared among different teams within the company (boundary objects) and those that are relevant within a specific team (locally relevant artifacts). CCS CONCEPTS• Software and its engineering → Software development methods; Agile software development; Documentation; Collaboration in software development; KEYWORDSAgile systems engineering, empirical software engineering, largescale agile, documentation ACM Reference Format: Rebekka Wohlrab, Patrizio Pelliccione, Eric Knauss, and Mats Larsson. 2018.

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Descriptive vs prescriptive models in industry

Cited by 24 publications

References 27 publications

A survey on modeling and model-driven engineering practices in the embedded software industry

A survey on modeling and model-driven engineering practices in the embedded software industry

Boundary objects and their use in agile systems engineering

Boundary objects in Agile practices

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