A framework of generating software process including milestones for object-oriented development method

Abstract

One of the major problems in object-oriented software projects is the lack of management ability to comprehend and control the development progress of a project. This is because traditional phases of software development are not appropriate for object-oriented development. The project manager's "road map" is likely to be different with different phases, different milestones, and different checkpoints. The paper proposes a new framework which gives one a rigorous guideline for generating software process with relevant milestones for various kinds of software development methods, especially for object-oriented development methods. The framework provides algorithms for identifying development phases and baseline products based on relationships among activities and products of the development method. In addition, the framework defines a software process model to manage a development progress in which milestones are established at the end of each phase in order to check the baseline product and establish goals for the following phase. Results of the application of the proposed framework show that the framework can generate a software process customized for well-known object-oriented development methods in a systematic way.