Not once has been proved the success of the Semantic Web discipline. By providing new and efficient solutions to problems in various domains of application, the Semantic Web proved itself to concretize the ideas introduced by its predecessor, the Web. It has been recognized to be revolutionary and convinced the practitioners to call this concept “an extension of the current Web”. The thesis explores the field of Software Engineering, more precisely Software Project Management and Development, with the focus on the intersection of the one above with the area of Semantic Web and the technologies it provides. In other words, it analyzes the impact of the usage of Semantic Web technologies into the Software Development lifecycle. The application of Semantic technologies inside the process of Software Development has been quantitatively researched and experienced and it is subject to a continuous process of improvement. The survey conducted inside the thesis makes use of the promising results of the usage of Semantic technologies inside the Software Engineering and having these as a starting point it tries to understand how different aspects in the context of Software Engineering such as the Project Planning or the Software Development Lifecycle are affected by the Semantic technologies, for a constant improvement of their application inside the Software Development process. But in order to come up with meaningful ideas, methods and best practices deducted from the Software Engineering for better Semantic applications, a rigorous analysis is required. For allowing such an analysis to be performed, a survey has been created and conducted among Software Engineering experts activating in various domains. The survey consists in the distribution of a questionnaire divided into two parts: the first part containing specific questions querying personal information about the participant and the second part which is the actually the main part of the questionnaire and consisting in eight questions regarding the Semantic technologies and one question asking for feedback. In order to generate the most appropriate questions several methods have been used but the basis remains a consistent literature review which helps understand the state of the art of the Semantic Web and the current challenges Software Engineering will in the near future possibly overcome. Next to the body of the questions a list of possible answers has been provided and most of the time additional free-text boxes in order to enable flexibility in the answering process. The questionnaire has been distributed both personally and remotely and the obtained results have been collected in an Excel workbook to permit a better analysis by means of charts. A multitude of charts have been generated from single questions, sub-questions or multiple questions. The analysis is based on the charts interpretation and tries to collect findings of how several aspects in the standard software development, are influenced by the decision of using or re-using semantic web technologies. For instance, a crucial issue constitutes the moment in time when the decision to introduce is taken, namely in which phase of the project the semantic web technology is introduced. When conducting the analysis whether semantic web technologies are beneficial or not for developing software products, several points have been taken into consideration, from internal issues such as: time reduction, cost estimation, team’s acceptance to how the problem is seen by the outer stakeholders, for example the customer. The thesis is divided into six chapters, including the "Introduction" and the "Conclusion" chapters. It actually starts with the “State of the Art” chapter offering a brief overview of the main concepts in this field with a particular accent on the Ontologies and the Semantic technologies. Furthermore, the other subject of interest of the thesis is treated: the Planning and the Development of Software Projects. First the steps of a Project plan are regarded, then each of the phases of the Software Development process are discussed, to end up with summarizing the most popular lifecycle models. Finally, the beneficial mixture between the two disciplines is supported by theoretical implications. The next chapter, “The survey” describes how the survey was created, conducted and the first steps in how the results are going to be interpreted. What methods have been implied in formulating the questions, how the interrogated persons have been selected and which the distribution means have been are aspects touched in this chapter. Additionally, for each question, next to the question task, a justification is offered by referencing several papers in literature which attest the significance of the matter in question. After having created and distributed the questionnaires among subjects activating in the most various domains, from Knowledge Management and Biomedical applications to Entertainment and Tourism, and with an oscillating level of experience, the obtained results have been refined and rearranged in a datasheets, basis for analysis. For that fact, the third chapter deals with the results analysis. The content of the datasheets require to be kept hidden for privacy of data reasons, but the resulting charts are simply another and more meaningful way of rearranging and exposing the information. The charts appear in the pages of the “Results Analysis” chapter in a significantly high number of times, permitting reading and interpreting the collected answers. Lastly, the final chapter entitled “Lessons Learnt” gathers the most relevant findings from the results analysis and constitutes a precious collection of lessons learnt. Future works on the topic can now easily make use of these conclusions which may prove to provide pregnant implications in the investigation of Software Engineering practices for better applications of Semantic technologies.
Il Web semantico sta avendo un discreto successo. Offrendo nuovi ed efficaci strumenti per risolvere problemi in vari campi, il Web semantico si sta dimostrato capace di contribuire al crescente successo del Web. Questa tesi pone l’attenzione sull’Ingegneria Software, più precisamente sulla gestione dei Progetti Software, e sul Web Semantico, analizzando l’impatto dell’utilizzo delle tecnologie del Web semantico nel ciclo di vita dello Sviluppo Software. L’impatto delle tecnologie semantiche sul processo di Sviluppo Software è stato ampiamente studiato in letteratura. Lo studio realizzato in questa tesi usa i risultati disponibili in letteratura come punto di partenza e cerca di capire il modo in cui i diversi aspetti dell’Ingegneria Software, come la Planificazione del progetto o il Ciclo di vita dello Sviluppo Software, sono influenzati dalle tecnologie Semantiche per migliorarne l’uso nell’ambito del processo di Sviluppo Software. Per permettere che una tale analisi sia concepita, il cuore di questa tesi è uno studio condotto sul campo intervistande esperti del settore. Il principale strumento usato nello studio e un questionario. Il questionario è diviso in due parti: la prima parte contiene delle domande relalative ai partecipanti mentre la seconda parte consiste in otto questioni concernenti l’impatto delle tecnologie semantiche sul processo di Sviluppo Software. Le domande sono state formulate usando quanto noto in Letteratura in termini di strumenti offerti dal Web Semantico, benefici e barriere e tematiche tipiche della Gestione progetti software come stima dei costi, gestione del rischio e gestione delle aspettative del comminttente. Per formulare le domande più adeguate, è stato usato il metodo “Goals, Questions, Metrics”. Ogni domanda è seguita da un elenco di possibili risposte e talvolta è stata anche offerta la possibilità di lasciare un commento nell’ottica di permettere una flessibilità nel rispondere alle domande fatte. Il questionario è stato distribuito sia personalmente che a distanza a circa 50 persone e hanno risposto 26. I risultati ottenuti sono stati depositati in un foglio Excel e sono stati analizzati con l’aiuto di una serie di grafici. I grafici hanno permeso di capire quali aspetti sono maggiormente influenzati dalla decisione di utilizzare (o riutilizzare) le tecnologie del web semantico. Apparentemente i partecipanti alla survey ritengono che le tecnologie semantiche possano essere introdotte a partire delle fase di design, ma poi riportano seri problemi già in fase di analisi, dei reqisiti, di integrazione. Questo ci fa sospettare che forse bisognerebbe tenerne conto in quele fase di Sviluppo Software sono introdotte le technologie semantiche. La tesi e strutturata in quattro capitoli. Inizia con il capitolo "Stato dell’arte” che offre una breve presentazione del Web Semantico facendo particolare attenzione alle Ontologie e alle Tecnologie semantiche. Nel stesso capitolo viene inoltre illustrata “La Gestione dei Progetti Software". All'inizio sono prese in considerazione le fasi di un piano di progetto, poi è discussa ogni fase e vengono presentati i più conosciuti modelli del ciclo di vita del Software. Il successivo capitolo descrive il modo in cui è stato concepito e condotto lo studio ed il modo in cui sono stati interpretati i risultati. In particolare, nel capitolo sono presentati i metodi scelti per formulare le domande, il modo di intervistare le persone selezionate ed i mezzi di distribuzione del questionario. Per ogni domanda è offerta anche una spiegazione della letteratura che ne attesta l’importanza. Il terzo capitolo illustra i risultati delle analisi mediante una serie di grafi che aggregano le risposte collezionate, mentre il quarto capitolo riunisce le osservazioni più rilevanti dell’analisi dei risultati e rappresenta una collezione di lezioni imparate. Questo lavoro di tesi si chiude con un’indicazione degli sviluppi futuri e fornisce una serie di indicazioni su come continuare a investigare l’impatto delle technologie del Web Semantico sullo Sviluppo Software.
An empirical study about the impact of the semantic technologies upon the software development lifecycle
MANCAS, CATALINA FELICIA
2009/2010
Abstract
Not once has been proved the success of the Semantic Web discipline. By providing new and efficient solutions to problems in various domains of application, the Semantic Web proved itself to concretize the ideas introduced by its predecessor, the Web. It has been recognized to be revolutionary and convinced the practitioners to call this concept “an extension of the current Web”. The thesis explores the field of Software Engineering, more precisely Software Project Management and Development, with the focus on the intersection of the one above with the area of Semantic Web and the technologies it provides. In other words, it analyzes the impact of the usage of Semantic Web technologies into the Software Development lifecycle. The application of Semantic technologies inside the process of Software Development has been quantitatively researched and experienced and it is subject to a continuous process of improvement. The survey conducted inside the thesis makes use of the promising results of the usage of Semantic technologies inside the Software Engineering and having these as a starting point it tries to understand how different aspects in the context of Software Engineering such as the Project Planning or the Software Development Lifecycle are affected by the Semantic technologies, for a constant improvement of their application inside the Software Development process. But in order to come up with meaningful ideas, methods and best practices deducted from the Software Engineering for better Semantic applications, a rigorous analysis is required. For allowing such an analysis to be performed, a survey has been created and conducted among Software Engineering experts activating in various domains. The survey consists in the distribution of a questionnaire divided into two parts: the first part containing specific questions querying personal information about the participant and the second part which is the actually the main part of the questionnaire and consisting in eight questions regarding the Semantic technologies and one question asking for feedback. In order to generate the most appropriate questions several methods have been used but the basis remains a consistent literature review which helps understand the state of the art of the Semantic Web and the current challenges Software Engineering will in the near future possibly overcome. Next to the body of the questions a list of possible answers has been provided and most of the time additional free-text boxes in order to enable flexibility in the answering process. The questionnaire has been distributed both personally and remotely and the obtained results have been collected in an Excel workbook to permit a better analysis by means of charts. A multitude of charts have been generated from single questions, sub-questions or multiple questions. The analysis is based on the charts interpretation and tries to collect findings of how several aspects in the standard software development, are influenced by the decision of using or re-using semantic web technologies. For instance, a crucial issue constitutes the moment in time when the decision to introduce is taken, namely in which phase of the project the semantic web technology is introduced. When conducting the analysis whether semantic web technologies are beneficial or not for developing software products, several points have been taken into consideration, from internal issues such as: time reduction, cost estimation, team’s acceptance to how the problem is seen by the outer stakeholders, for example the customer. The thesis is divided into six chapters, including the "Introduction" and the "Conclusion" chapters. It actually starts with the “State of the Art” chapter offering a brief overview of the main concepts in this field with a particular accent on the Ontologies and the Semantic technologies. Furthermore, the other subject of interest of the thesis is treated: the Planning and the Development of Software Projects. First the steps of a Project plan are regarded, then each of the phases of the Software Development process are discussed, to end up with summarizing the most popular lifecycle models. Finally, the beneficial mixture between the two disciplines is supported by theoretical implications. The next chapter, “The survey” describes how the survey was created, conducted and the first steps in how the results are going to be interpreted. What methods have been implied in formulating the questions, how the interrogated persons have been selected and which the distribution means have been are aspects touched in this chapter. Additionally, for each question, next to the question task, a justification is offered by referencing several papers in literature which attest the significance of the matter in question. After having created and distributed the questionnaires among subjects activating in the most various domains, from Knowledge Management and Biomedical applications to Entertainment and Tourism, and with an oscillating level of experience, the obtained results have been refined and rearranged in a datasheets, basis for analysis. For that fact, the third chapter deals with the results analysis. The content of the datasheets require to be kept hidden for privacy of data reasons, but the resulting charts are simply another and more meaningful way of rearranging and exposing the information. The charts appear in the pages of the “Results Analysis” chapter in a significantly high number of times, permitting reading and interpreting the collected answers. Lastly, the final chapter entitled “Lessons Learnt” gathers the most relevant findings from the results analysis and constitutes a precious collection of lessons learnt. Future works on the topic can now easily make use of these conclusions which may prove to provide pregnant implications in the investigation of Software Engineering practices for better applications of Semantic technologies.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/3785