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On shared understanding in software engineering: an essay

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Computer Science - Research and Development

Abstract

Shared understanding is essential for efficient software engineering when the risk of unsatisfactory out-come and rework of project results shall be low. Today, however, shared understanding is used mostly in an unreflected, ad-hoc way. This affects the quality of the engineered software solutions and generates re-work once the quality problems are discovered. In this article, we investigate the role, value, and usage of shared understanding in software engineering. We contribute a reflected analysis of the problem, in particular of how to rely on shared understanding that is implicit, rather than explicit. After an overview of the state of the art we discuss forms and value of shared understanding in software engineering, survey enablers and obstacles, compile existing practices for dealing with shared understanding, and present a roadmap for improving knowledge and practice in this area.

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Notes

  1. In the normal case, explicit specifications are captured in writing. Principally, however, explicit verbal communication remembered by all team members is also a form of explicit shared understanding, albeit a rather volatile one.

  2. The dialogues of Plato: translated into English with analyses and introductions by Benjamin Jowett, vol. 4, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, 1892, p 209. Retrieved 2013-07-27 at http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=768&Itemid=27#a_pdf.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the members of the Requirements Engineering Research Group at the University of Zurich for valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Martin Glinz

  2. Software Engineering Research Laboratory, Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Karlskrona, Sweden

    Samuel A. Fricker

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  1. Martin Glinz
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  2. Samuel A. Fricker
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Correspondence to Martin Glinz.

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Glinz, M., Fricker, S.A. On shared understanding in software engineering: an essay. Comput Sci Res Dev 30, 363–376 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00450-014-0256-x

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