Publications

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2011
Barišić, A., V. Amaral, M. Goulão, and B. Barroca, "How to reach a usable DSL? Moving toward a Systematic Evaluation", Electronic Communications of the EASST (MPM), 2011. Abstract

Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) are claimed to increase productivity, while reducing the required maintenance and programming expertise. In this context, DSL usability by domain experts is a key factor for its successful adoption. Evidence that support those improvement claims is mostly anecdotal. Our systematic literature review showed that a usability evaluation was often skipped, relaxed, or at least omitted from papers reporting the development of DSLs. The few exceptions mostly take place at the end of the development process where fixing problems identified is too expensive. We argue that a systematic approach based on User Interface experimental validation techniques should be used to assess the impact of the new DSLs. The rationale is that assessing important and specially tailored usability attributes for DSLs early in language construction will ultimately foster a higher productivity of the DSL users. This paper, besides discussing the quality criteria, proposes a development and evaluation process that can be used to achieve usable DSLs in a better way.

Barišić, A., V. Amaral, M. Goulão, and B. Barroca, "Quality in Use of Domain Specific Languages: a Case Study", 3rd ACM SIGPLAN workshop on Evaluation and Usability of Programming Languages and Tools (PLATEAU 2011), Portland, USA, ACM, pp. 65-72, 2011. Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2089155.2089170

plateau2011-barisic.pdf

Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) are claimed to increment productivity, while reducing the required maintenance and programming expertise. In this context, DSLs usability is a key factor for its successful adoption.

In this paper, we propose a systematic approach based on User Interfaces Experimental validation techniques to assess the impact of the introduction of DSLs on the productivity of domain experts. To illustrate this evaluation approach we present a case study of a DSL for High Energy Physics (HEP).

The DSL on this case study, called Pheasant (PHysicist’s EAsy Analysis Tool), is assessed in contrast with a pre-existing baseline, using General Purpose Languages (GPLs) such as C++. The comparison combines quantitative and qualitative data, collected with users from a real-world setting. Our assessment includes Physicists with programming experience with two profiles; ones with no experience with the previous framework used in the project and other experienced.

This work’s contribution highlights the problem of the absence of systematic approaches for experimental validation of DSLs. It also illustrates how an experimental approach can be used in the context of a DSL evaluation during the Software Languages Engineering activity, with respect to its impact on effectiveness and efficiency.

2010
Santos, J. P., A. Moreira, J. Araújo, and M. Goulão, "Increasing Quality in Scenario Modelling with Model-Driven Development", 7th International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology (QUATIC'2010), Porto, Portugal, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 204-209, 29 Sep.-2 Oct., 2010. Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/QUATIC.2010.36

santos_et_al_quatic2010.pdf

Models, with different levels of detail, share similar abstractions that can be reused by means of model-driven techniques such as transformations. For example, scenarios are a well-known technique in requirements engineering to represent behavioral flows in a software system. When using UML, scenarios are typically represented with activity models in the early stages of software development, while sequence models are used to describe more detailed object interactions as modeling progresses. This paper defines transformation rules to automate the migration from activity to sequence models. We present a case study illustrating the application of our transformation rules. Our preliminary assessment of the impact of the benefits of using these transformations points to: (i) a reduction of around 50% in the effort building sequence models, (ii) increased trace ability among models, and (iii) error prevention when migrating from different scenario notations.

Gabriel, P., M. Goulão, and V. Amaral, "Do Software Languages Engineers Evaluate their Languages?", XIII Congreso Iberoamericano en "Software Engineering" (CIbSE'2010), ISBN: 978-9978-325-10-0, Cuenca, Ecuador, Universidad del Azuay, pp. 149-162, 2010. Abstractgabrielgoulaoamaralcibse2010.pdf

Domain Speci c Languages (DSLs) can contribute to increment productivity, while reducing the required maintenance and programming expertise. We hypothesize that Software Languages Engineering (SLE) developers consistently skip, or relax, Language Evaluation. Based on the experience of engineering other types of software products, we assume that this may potentially lead to the deployment of inadequate languages. The fact that the languages already deal with concepts from the problem domain, and not the solution domain, is not enough to validate several issues at stake, such as its expressiveness, usability,
eff ectiveness, maintainability, or even the domain expert's productivity while using them. We present a systematic review on articles published in top ranked venues, from 2001 to 2008, which report DSLs' construction, to characterize the common practice. This work con rms our initial hypothesis and lays the ground for the discussion on how to include a systematic approach to DSL evaluation in the SLE process.

2007
Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Modeling the Experimental Software Engineering Process", 6th International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology (QUATIC'2007), Lisbon, Portugal, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 77-90, 12-14 Sep., 2007. Abstractquatic2007mgfbafinal.pdf

Reviews on software engineering literature have shown an insufficient experimental validation of claims, when compared to the standard practice in other well-established sciences. Poor validation of software engineering claims increases the risks of introducing changes in the software process of an organization, as the potential benefits assessment is based on hype, rather than on facts. The community lacks highly disseminated experimental best practices. We contribute with a model of the experimental software engineering process that is aligned with recent proposals for best practices in experimental data dissemination. The model can be used in the definition of software engineering experiments and in comparisons among experimental results.

Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "An overview of metrics-based approaches to support software components reusability assessment", Software Quality Measurement: Concepts and Approaches, Hyderabad, ICFAI Books, pp. 264, 2007. Abstractgoulaoabreubookchapter.pdf

Objective: To present an overview on the current state of the art concerning metrics-based
quality evaluation of software components and component assemblies.
Method: Comparison of several approaches available in the literature, using a framework
comprising several aspects, such as scope, intent, definition technique, and maturity.
Results: The identification of common shortcomings of current approaches, such as
ambiguity in definition, lack of adequacy of the specifying formalisms and insufficient
validation of current quality models and metrics for software components.
Conclusions: Quality evaluation of components and component-based infrastructures
presents new challenges to the Experimental Software Engineering community.

2006
Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "On the Influence of Practitioners' Expertise in Component-Based Software Reviews", 10th ECOOP Workshop on Quantitative Approaches in Object-Oriented Software Engineering (QAOOSE'2006), Nantes, 2006. Abstract

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2005
Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Composition assessment metrics for CBSE", Euromicro-SEAA 2005: 31st Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, Porto, Portugal, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 96-103, 2005. Abstract

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Alanen, M., J. Cabot, M. Goulão, and J. Sáez, "Doctoral symposium", UML Modeling Languages and Applications, vol. 3297: Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, pp. 85-93, 2005. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Formal Definition of Metrics upon the CORBA Component Model", First International Conference on the Quality of Software Architectures (QoSA'2005), and Proceedings of the Second International conference on Software Quality, vol. 3712, Erfurt, Germany, Springer, pp. 88-105, 2005. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Validação Cruzada de Métricas para Componentes", IEEE Transactions Latin America, vol. 3, no. 1, 2005. Abstract

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2004
Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Cross-Validation of a Component Metrics Suite", IX Jornadas de Ingeniería del Software y Bases de Datos (JISBD'2004), Malaga, Spain, 2004. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Formalizing Metrics for COTS", International Workshop on Models and Processess for the Evaluation of COTS Components (MPEC 2004) at ICSE 2004, Edimburgh, Scotland, IEE, pp. 37-40, 2004. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Independent validation of a component metrics suite", 8th International Workshop on Quantitative Approaches in Object-Oriented Software Engineering (QAOOSE'2004), Oslo, Norway, 2004. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Software Components Evaluation: an Overview", 5ª Conferência da APSI (CAPSI 2004), Lisbon, 2004. Abstract

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2003
Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Bridging the gap between Acme and UML 2.0 for CBD", Specification and Verification of Component-Based Systems (SAVCBS'2003), at the ESEC/FSE'2003, Helsinki, Finland, 2003. Abstract

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2002
Baroni, A. L., M. Goulão, and F. B. Abreu, "Avoiding the Ambiguity of Quantitative Data Extraction: An Approach to Improve the Quality of Metrics Results", Work in Progress Session at the 28th EUROMICRO Conference, Dortmund, Germany, 2002. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "From Objects to Components - A Quantitative Experiment", 6th International Workshop on Quantitative Approaches in Object-Oriented Software Engineering QAOOSE'2002, Málaga, Spain, 2002. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "The quest for software components quality", 26th Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2002), Oxford, England, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 313-318, 2002. Abstract

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Goulão, M., and F. B. Abreu, "Towards a Components Quality Model", Work in Progress Session of the 28th Euromicro Conference (Euromicro 2002), Dortmund, Germany, 2002. Abstract

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2001
e Abreu, F. B., and M. Goulão, "Coupling and Cohesion as Modularization Drivers: Are we being over-persuaded?", 5th European Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering (CSMR'2001), Lisboa, Portugal, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 47-57, 2001. Abstract

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e Abreu, F. B., and M. Goulão, "A Merit Factor Driven Approach to the Modularization of Software Systems", L'Object, 2001. Abstract

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1999
Monteiro, A. S., M. Goulão, F. B. Abreu, A. B. Almeida, and P. Sousa, "Controlling the Evolution of Legacy Systems Using Internet Technology: A Defect Report and Tracking System", 6th European Conference on Software Quality, Vienna, Austria, European Organization for Quality, pp. 473-483, 1999. Abstract

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Abreu, F. B., and M. Goulão, "Designing and Coding Object-Oriented Systems: An Introductory Course Experience Report", Workshop on Introducing OO Design and Programming with Special Emphasis on Concrete Examples (ECOOP'99), vol. 1743, Lisboa, Portugal, Springer Verlag, pp. 351-353, 1999. Abstract

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Abreu, F. B., L. M. Ochoa, and M. Goulão, "The GOODLY Design Language for MOOD2 Metrics Collection", 3rd ECOOP Workshop on Quantitative Approaches in Object-Oriented Software Engineering (QAOOSE'1999), Lisbon, Portugal, 1999. Abstract

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