Introducing IEEE-CS 1175: a standard for tool interconnections

The IEEE Computer Society's (IEEE-CS) 1175 standard, Trial-Use Standard Reference Model for Computing System Tool Interconnections, exhibits a unique structure to assist the buyers, builders, testers, and users of professional computing tools. The standard not only provides a means to exchange software requirements and design information among different kinds of tools, it also contains guidance on the roles and usage of tools, both within organizations and within system architectures. Further, it assists tool users by providing terminology to help describe the characteristics of a tool-to-tool interchange that might be required. This paper summarizes the key elements of the IEEE-CS 1175 standard, which has been approved by the IEEE Computer Society for trial use, and describes how it can be applied to assist software engineering practitioners.<>