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A study to support agile methods more effectively through traceability

Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering volume 7, pages 53–69 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Traceability is recognized to be important for supporting agile development processes. However, after analyzing many of the existing traceability approaches it can be concluded that they strongly depend on traditional development process characteristics. Within this paper it is justified that this is a drawback to support adequately agile processes. As it is discussed, some concepts do not have the same semantics for traditional and agile methodologies. This paper proposes three features that traceability models should support to be less dependent on a specific development process: (1) user-definable traceability links, (2) roles, and (3) linkage rules. To present how these features can be applied, an emerging traceability metamodel (TmM) will be used within this paper. TmM supports the definition of traceability methodologies adapted to the needs of each project. As it is shown, after introducing these three features into traceability models, two main advantages are obtained: 1) the support they can provide to agile process stakeholders is significantly more extensive, and 2) it will be possible to achieve a higher degree of automation. In this sense it will be feasible to have a methodical trace acquisition and maintenance process adapted to agile processes.

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Acknowledgments

This research work has been partially sponsored by the Spanish MITyC (FLEXI ITEA2 FIT-340005-2007-37), MICINN (INNOSEP TIN2009-13849, DSDM TIN2007-00889-E) and MEC (OVAL/PM TIN2006-14840). Special thanks to the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) for supporting this research as part of the Doctoral Studies Financing Program.

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  1. Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid - UPM), Systems and Software Technologies Group, E.U. Informatica, Ctra. de Valencia Km. 7, 28031, Madrid, Spain

    Angelina Espinoza & Juan Garbajosa

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  1. Angelina Espinoza
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  2. Juan Garbajosa
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Correspondence to Angelina Espinoza.

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Espinoza, A., Garbajosa, J. A study to support agile methods more effectively through traceability. Innovations Syst Softw Eng 7, 53–69 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11334-011-0144-5

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Keywords

  • Traceability methodology
  • Metamodeling
  • Agile methods
  • Test-Driven Development (TDD)
  • Storytest-Driven Development (SDD)
  • ISO-24744:2007 SEMDM