Digital Commons Network^™

Calibrating Function Point Backfiring Conversion Ratios Using Neuro-Fuzzy Technique, Justin Wong, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software estimation is an important aspect in software development projects because poor estimations can lead to late delivery, cost overruns, and possibly project failure. Backfiring is a popular technique for sizing and predicting the volume of source code by converting the function point metric into source lines of code mathematically using conversion ratios. While this technique is popular and useful, there is a high margin of error in backfiring. This research introduces a new method to reduce that margin of error. Neural networks and fuzzy logic in software prediction models have been demonstrated in the past to have improved performance …

Unifying Framework For Building Social Computing Applications, Renato Costa, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

There have been a number of frameworks and models developed to

support different aspects of social computing. Some were developed to deal

with online interaction through the application of computer-mediated communications

tools, whereas others such as social network analyses and reputation

systems were more specific in their focus. While these methodologies are interrelated,

current social computing research has dealt with them as separate aspects.

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for social computing

that aims at integrating all these three aspects into a unified model so that discovery

and exploration of community members are not only made possible, but

also …

A Model Of Open Source Software-Based Product Line Development, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed, Mohammad Ali Babar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software Product Line (SPL) and Open Source Software (OSS) have emerged as successful modes of developing software. There is an increased interest in developing suitable approaches for combining the promised advantages of SPL andOSS. Researchers and practitioners have been emphasizing the need of exploiting the ever growing repositories ofOSScomponents for developing SPLs. However, there is no conceptual model for guiding the process of developing OSS-based SPLs. In this paper, we propose a model for developing software product line using open source software. This paper identifies and elaborates the essential phases and activities of the proposed model of developing OSS-based SPLs. …

Fuzzy Inference System For Software Product Family Process Evaluation, Faheem Ahmed, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Jagath Samarabandu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

When developing multiple products within a common application domain, systematic use of a software product family process can yield increased productivity in cost, quality, effort and schedule. Such a process provides the means for the reuse of software assets which can considerably reduce the development time and the cost of software products. A comprehensive strategy for the evaluating the maturity of a software product family process is needed due to growing popularity of this concept in the software industry. In this paper, we propose a five-level maturity scale for software product family process. We also present a fuzzy inference system …

A New Calibration For Function Point Complexity Weights, Wei Xia, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Function Point (FP) is a useful software metric that was first proposed twenty-five years ago, since then, it has steadily evolved into a functional size metric consolidated in the well-accepted Standardized International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) Counting Practices Manual - version 4.2. While software development industry has grown rapidly, the weight values assigned to count standard FP still remain same, which raise critical questions about the validity of the weight values. In this paper, we discuss the concepts of calibrating Function Point, whose aims are to estimate a more accurate software size that fits for specific software application, to …

Cots-Based Software Product Line Development, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed, Shereef Al-Maati, Zaher Alaghbari

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software Product Line (SPL) is at the forefront among the techniques for reducing costs, decreasing schedule time, and ensuring commonality of features across a family of products - as components off-the-shelf (COTS) are reused in multiple products. A disciplined process for software product line development is still needed. We propose the Y-model for COTS-based software product line development. The model put forward identifies and elaborates the essential phases and activities of software product line development from COTS-based repository. The Y-model provides an efficient way of integrating the approaches of software product line and COTS-based development as a cohesive software development …

An Empirical Validation Of Object-Oriented Design Metrics For Fault Prediction, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Jie Xu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Object-oriented design has become a dominant method in software industry and many design metrics of object-oriented programs have been proposed for quality prediction, but there is no well-accepted statement on how significant those metrics are. In this study, empirical analysis is carried out to validate object-oriented design metrics for defects estimation. Approach: The Chidamber and Kemerer metrics suite is adopted to estimate the number of defects in the programs, which are extracted from a public NASA data set. The techniques involved are statistical analysis and neuro-fuzzy approach. Results: The results indicate that SLOC, WMC, CBO and RFC are reliable metrics …