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A Stochastic Approach Based on Rational Decision-Making for Analyzing Software Engineering Project Status

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Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14483))

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Abstract

This study presents a novel approach to project status prediction in software engineering, based on unobservable states of decision-making processes, utilizing Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). By establishing HMM structures and leveraging the Rational Decision Making model (RDM), we encoded underlying project conditions; observed project data from a software engineering organization were utilized to estimate model parameters via the Baum-Welch algorithm. The developed HMMs, four project-specific models, were subsequently tested with empirical data, demonstrating their predictive potential. However, a generalized, aggregated model did not show any sufficient accuracy. Model development and experiments were made in Python. Our approach presents preliminary work and a pathway for understanding and forecasting project dynamics in software development environments.

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Correspondence to Hannes Salin .

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Salin, H. (2024). A Stochastic Approach Based on Rational Decision-Making for Analyzing Software Engineering Project Status. In: Kadgien, R., Jedlitschka, A., Janes, A., Lenarduzzi, V., Li, X. (eds) Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14483. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49266-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49266-2_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49265-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49266-2

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