Abstract
This paper presents a controlled experiment, conducted at the University of Kaiserslautern which evaluates an approach known as SORT, for the systematic refinement and translation of UML Diagrams. Specifically, the experiment investigates the effects of SORT, with respect to the mapping of object-oriented UML design models to source code, by comparing the effects of different approaches to such mappings (SORT and ad-hoc1) on the quality attributes understandability, verifiability, and effort (time). The experimental results demonstrate that OO systems developed by applying SORT are more understandable and verifiable. In summary, SORT can help to improve the quality of software systems, but its application alone does not guarantee quality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arisholm E, Sjøberg, DIK (2004) Evaluating the effect of a delegated versus centralized control style on the maintainability of object-oriented software. IEEE Trans on Softw Eng 30(8):521–534
Astels D (2002) Refactoring with UML. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference eXtreme Programming and Flexible Processes in Software Engineering, pp 67–70
Atkinson C, Izygon M (1995) ION a notation for the graphical depiction of object-oriented programs. Technical report, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Atkinson C, Bayer J, Bunse C, et al. (2001) Component-based product line engineering with UML, Addison Wesley.
Bell AE, Schmidt RW (1999) UMLoquent expression of AWACS software design. Commun ACM 42(10):55–61
Booch G (1994) Object oriented analysis and design with applications (2nd edition). Benjamin/ Cummings, Redwood City, CA
Bortz J (1993) Statistik für Sozialwissenschaftler (4th edition). Springer–Verlag, (in German)
Briand LC, Daly JW, Wüst J (1997a) A unified framework for cohesion measurement. Proceedings of the Fourth International IEEE Symposium on Software Metrics, Metrics'97
Briand LC, Bunse C, Daly JW (1997b) An experimental evaluation of quality guidelines on the maintainability of object-oriented design documents. In: Wiedenbeck S, Scholtz J (eds), Proceedings of the Empirical Studies of Programmers: Seventh Workshop ESP7,ACMPress, pp 1–19
Briand LC, Bunse C, Daly JW, Differding C (1997c) An experimental comparison of the maintainability of object-oriented and structured design documents. Journal of Empirical Software Engineering 2(3):291–312
Briand LC, Daly JW, Wüst J (1999) A unified framework for coupling measurement in object-oriented systems. IEEE Trans on Softw Eng 25(1):91–121
121Briand LC, Bunse C, Daly JW (2001) A controlled experiment for evaluating quality guidelines on the maintainability of object-oriented designs. IEEE Trans on Softw Eng 27(6):513–530
Bruegge B, Dutoit AH (2003) Object-oriented software engineering: using UML, patterns, and java. Prentice Hall
Bunse C, Atkinson C (1999a) Improving quality in object-oriented software: systematic refinement and translation of models to code. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Software & Systems Engineering and their Applications (ICSSEA’99), Paris, France
Bunse C, Atkinson C (1999b) The normal object form: bridging the gap from models to code. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on the Unified Modeling Language (UML'99), Fort Collins, USA
Bunse C (2001) Pattern-based refinement and translation of object-oriented models to code, Fraunhofer IRB, ISBN 3-8167-5613-1
Cheesman J, Daniels J (2000) UML components: a simple process for specifying component-based software. Addison-Wesley
Chidamber SR, Kemerer CF (1994) A metrics suite for object-oriented design. IEEE Trans on Softw Eng 20(6):476– 493
Coleman D, Arnold P, Bodoff S, Dollin C, Gilchrist H, Hayes F, Jeremaes P (1993) Object-oriented development: the fusion method. Prentice Hall
Coplien JO, Schmidt DC (1995) Pattern languages of program design. Addison-Wesley (Software Patterns Series)
Curtis C (1980) Measurement and experimentation in software engineering. Proc IEEE 68(9):1144–1157
Daly J, Brooks A, Miller J, Roper M, Wood M (1996) Evaluating inheritance depth on the maintainability of object-oriented software. Empirical Software Engineering, An International Journal 1(2):109–132
US Department of Defense (DoD) (1983) Reference manual for the Ada Programming Language
D'Souza DF, Wills AC (1998) Objects, components and frameworks with UML: the catalysis approach. Addison-Wesley
Gamma E, Helm R, Johnson R, Vlissides J (1995) Design patterns–elements of reusable objectoriented software. Addison-Wesley
Grady RB (1992) Practical software metrics for project management and process improvement. Prentice Hall, NJ
Green S, Kouchakdjian A, Basili V, Weidow D (1990) The cleanroom case study in the SEL: project description and early analysis. Technical Report SEL-90-002, NASA–SEL
Herrington J (2003) Code generation in action. Manning Publications Company
Hofstadter DR (1996) Metamagical themas: questing for the essence of mind and pattern. Basic Books
Holub A (2002) When it comes to good OO Design, keep it simple—feature-rich OO Design Tools fail where simple solutions succeed. Java World, a copy of the article can be obtained at http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw_01_2002/jw_0111_ootools_p.html
Jeckle M (2005) Overview on UML CASE Tools, pages on the WWW which can be obtained at http://www.jeckle.de, last visited Spring 2005
Kaplan B, Duchon D (1988) Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in information systems research: a case study. MIS Quarterly, pp 571–586
Kruchten P (1998) The rational unified process: an introduction. Addison-Wesley
Lee RC, Tepfenhart WM (1997) UML and C++. A practical guide to object-oriented development. Prentice Hall
Leite J (2000) Lecture notes—software engineering 1 (SE-1). University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, Fall-Semester 1999–2000
Meyer B (1992) EIFFEL—the language. Prentice Hall
Object Management Group (OMG) (2001) OMG unified modeling language specification, version 1.5. Technical report
Object Management Group (OMG). (2005) OMG UML 2.0 superstructure specification. Technical Report, OMG
Martin RC, Riehle D, Buschmann F (1997) Pattern languages of program design 3. Addison-Wesley (Software Patterns Series)
Medvidovic N, Egyed A, Rosenblum DS (1999) Round-trip software engineering using UML: from architecture to design and back, 1999. Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Object-Oriented Reengineering (WOOR), Toulouse, France, pp 1–8
Reed PR Jr (2001) Developing applications with Java and UML. Addison-Wesley
Rumbaugh J, Blaha M, Premerlani W, Eddy F, Lorensen W (1991) Object-oriented modeling and design. Prentice Hall
Satpathy M, Harrison R, Snook C, Butler M (2000) A generic model for assessing process quality, proceedings. of the 10th international workshop on software measurement (IWSM 2000), lecture notes in computer science, Volume 2006, Springer, pp 94–110
Sendall S, Küster J (2004) Taming model round-trip engineering. OOPSLA/GPCE: Best Practices for Model-Driven Software Development
Singer B, Lovie AD, Lovie P (1986) Sample size and power. In: Lovie AD (ed), New Developments in Statistics for Psychology and the Social Sciences. The British Psychological Society and Methuen, London, pp 129–142
Stroustrup B (1993) The C++ programming language (2nd edition). Addison-Wesley
Webster BF (1995) Pitfalls of object-oriented development. M&T Books
Trochim W (2002) Threats to conclusion validity, pages on the WWW available at: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/concthre.htm, Last visited in March 2005
Watt JH, van den Berg S (1995) Research methods for communication science. Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights, MA
Welkowitz J, Ewen R, Cohen J (1976) Introductory statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd edition). Academic Press
Wohlin C, Runeson P, Höst M, Ohlsson M, Regnell B, Wesslén A (2000) Experimentation in software engineering—an introduction. Kluwer Academic Publishers
Wood M, Daly J, Miller J, Roper M (1999) Multi-method research: an empirical investigation of object-oriented technology. Journal of Systems and Software 48(1):13–26
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editor: Murray Wood
1The mapping strategy followed by most mainstream methods is based on personal experience and general mapping guidelines. Thus, mappings are performed on an individual basis without systematic guidance (i.e., these approaches can be characterized as “ad-hoc” mapping approaches).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bunse, C. Using patterns for the refinement and translationof UML models: A controlled experiment. Empir Software Eng 11, 227–267 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-006-6403-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-006-6403-7