Brian Henderson-Sellers Books

Object-oriented (OO) metrics are an integral part of object technology — at the research level and in commercial software development projects. This book offers theoretical and empirical tips and facts for creating an OO complexity metrics (measurement) program, based on a review of existing research from the last several years. KEY Covers moving through object-oriented concepts as they related to managing the project lifecycle; the framework in which metrics exist; structural complexity metrics for traditional systems; OO product metrics; and current industrial applications. For software developers, programmers, and managers.

Previous methodologies for software development claimed universal applicability, but situational method engineering (SME) recognizes that projects have unique characteristics requiring tailored methodologies. This approach considers all elements necessary for software development, including processes, work products, personnel, and success measures. The book is divided into three parts. Part I introduces basic concepts, terminology, and foundational ideas of SME, culminating in a formal meta-model to help readers create quality methods and tools. Part II focuses on practical implementation, detailing how to identify and assemble method components and evaluate the resulting methodologies. It includes industry case studies that demonstrate the positive impact of well-engineered methods on software development success. Part III presents recent and forward-looking ideas in SME. The text serves as a comprehensive resource for academics, offering a conceptual framework and new research areas. For lecturers, it provides step-by-step guidance for teaching the customization and quality assessment of methods. Industry methodologists will find it a valuable reference for developing in-house methods or adapting existing ones.

Computing as a discipline is maturing rapidly. However, with maturity often comes a plethora of subdisciplines, which, as time progresses, can become isolationist. The subdisciplines of modelling, metamodelling, ontologies and modelling languages within software engineering e. g. have, to some degree, evolved separately and without any underpinning formalisms. Introducing set theory as a consistent underlying formalism, Brian Henderson-Sellers shows how a coherent framework can be developed that clearly links these four, previously separate, areas of software engineering. In particular, he shows how the incorporation of a foundational ontology can be beneficial in resolving a number of controversial issues in conceptual modelling, especially with regard to the perceived differences between linguistic metamodelling and ontological metamodelling. An explicit consideration of domain-specific modelling languages is also included in his mathematical analysis of models, metamodels, ontologies and modelling languages. This encompassing and detailed presentation of the state-of-the-art in modelling approaches mainly aims at researchers in academia and industry. They will find the principled discussion of the various subdisciplines extremely useful, and they may exploit the unifying approach as a starting point for future research.

In part the book creates and motivates the notion of metamodelling and how it can be used to standardise the creation of industry-strength design. At its heart, the book presents an analysis of the main object-oriented design methodologies, Booch, OMT, Coad, and Martin/Odell. Based on these descriptions, a proposal is made for a core metamodel framework into which the leading methodologies may be fitted. As a result, software engineers and software managers will find this a valuable "road map" in the future development of software standards.