B3 Non-refereed article in a conference publication
Will the noun/verb analysis be used to generate class diagrams? An eye tracking study
Authors: Hutzler I, Hauser F, Reuter R, Mottok J, Gruber H
Editors: Chova, LG; Martinez, AL; Torres, IC
Conference name: International conference of education, research and innovation
Publication year: 2018
Journal: ICERI Proceedings
Book title : 11th international conference of education, research and innovation (ICERI2018)
Journal name in source: 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (ICERI2018)
Journal acronym: ICERI PROC
Series title: ICERI proceedings
First page : 505
Last page: 514
Number of pages: 10
ISBN: 978-84-09-05948-5
ISSN: 2340-1095
Abstract
One of the most difficult parts in the software development lifecycle is the generation of a good object model for a software product, based on a requirements specification [1]. Although there are many guidelines for generating models, most software products are very complex and there are many differences between the software products so that reuse of models is often not possible. To address these problems an eye tracking study should help to find out if the noun/verb analysis is used to generate class diagrams based on a given software requirements specification. The eye tracking study focuses on how expert programmers in comparison to novices generate class diagrams based on a requirements specification. The study has ten tasks. Each task consists of one requirement and three suitable class diagrams. The participants had to choose the most suitable diagram and give a reason for their choice. All tasks have in common, that the diagram which is completely based on the approach of Chris Rupp is wrong. The study is conducted with 40 participants consisting of students, software developers, software architects, professors and research assistants. The results of the study show that the noun/verb analysis is used by all the participants. Experts have concentrated on the nouns and verbs in the requirements specification that are realizable for a software system, whereas novices have chosen more often the class diagram containing all nouns as classes as they appear in the requirement. The study also shows that novices spend more time on reading the requirements than experts.
One of the most difficult parts in the software development lifecycle is the generation of a good object model for a software product, based on a requirements specification [1]. Although there are many guidelines for generating models, most software products are very complex and there are many differences between the software products so that reuse of models is often not possible. To address these problems an eye tracking study should help to find out if the noun/verb analysis is used to generate class diagrams based on a given software requirements specification. The eye tracking study focuses on how expert programmers in comparison to novices generate class diagrams based on a requirements specification. The study has ten tasks. Each task consists of one requirement and three suitable class diagrams. The participants had to choose the most suitable diagram and give a reason for their choice. All tasks have in common, that the diagram which is completely based on the approach of Chris Rupp is wrong. The study is conducted with 40 participants consisting of students, software developers, software architects, professors and research assistants. The results of the study show that the noun/verb analysis is used by all the participants. Experts have concentrated on the nouns and verbs in the requirements specification that are realizable for a software system, whereas novices have chosen more often the class diagram containing all nouns as classes as they appear in the requirement. The study also shows that novices spend more time on reading the requirements than experts.
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