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Software Functional Sizing Automation from Requirements Written as Triplets

Authors:
Bruel Gérançon
Sylvie Trudel
Roger Nkambou
Serge Robert

Keywords: COSMIC; Automation; Functional size; Triplet; Artificial intelligence

Abstract:
The domain of software functional size measurement automation, from software specification documents, has been a research topic over the last years. The literature consulted shows that attempts to automate the process of measuring the software functional size has obtained little success at the industry level. Several tools for automating the measurement of software functional size have been developed according to the Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) method (ISO 19761) website and that of International Function Point User Group (IFPUG). However, these tools encountered many flaws, constraints, and limitations. Moreover, the methods, techniques and tools for writing software specification documents used in the industry are far from allowing easily the automation of the measurement of software functional size. In industry, software requirements are often written in natural language, and no technical details are specified. Thus, software requirements are usually incomplete, inconsistent, and prone to ambiguities, and therefore, the analysts can easily make errors of interpretation. Therefore, automating the software functional size measurement is not an easy task. This article introduces a new technique for writing software requirements that could help to automate the functional size measurement process. More precisely, we propose a “triplet approach” for writing software specifications. Furthermore, this procedure is proven, tested, and validated by the development of a new tool for automating the measurement of software functional size, as defined by the COSMIC method. This tool allows to generate triplets (subject, predicate, object) from use cases written in natural language and determines this way the software functional size. Our tool integrates a set of techniques to create a complex artificial intelligence which helps to measure COSMIC function points.

Pages: 23 to 29

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2021

Publication date: October 3, 2021

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4235

ISBN: 978-1-61208-894-5

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Dates: from October 3, 2021 to October 7, 2021