Automated quality analysis of software engineering method models

Abstract

Using a suitable software engineering method (SEM) for a specific project and following it properly is important for the resulting software quality. However, SEMs described in natural language are often ambiguous and lack automated guidance for the team members, causing impediments for the project. The model-based approach Method Engineering with Method Services and Method Patterns (MESP) allows to model enactable SEM models by composing pre-defined building blocks. Up to now, the quality of MESP models had to be checked manually which was tedious and error-prone at times. In this paper, we present an automated design-time quality analysis for MESP SEM models. In particular, our analysis allows to automatically evaluate generic quality characteristics relevant for all SEM models as well as specific quality requirements specified using MESP method patterns. We integrated the quality analysis framework into the MESP Workbench and our evaluation shows that the analysis is fast enough to provide timely feedback even for large SEM models.