EPL 603

TOPICS IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Lab 1: Reviewing Journal Articles

Reviewing Journal Articles

1

Introduce you to the views of a number of different

researchers on software engineering
Help you develop skills in extracting the key
information from research papers, summarizing
and re-presenting this information and critically
analyzing these papers
Types of reviews
Executive

summaries

Critiques
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Journal Articles
2

Basic information of the journal article:

Name(s) of the author(s)

Title of article
Title of journal, volume number, date, month and page numbers
Statement of the problem or issue discussed
The authors purpose, approach or methods, hypothesis, and major
conclusions

Information from the articles abstract:

Context/background
Aims/objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusions

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Executive Summaries
3

Write an executive summary which highlights the key points that

the author is making in the paper (usually between 1200-1300
words for long articles / 700-800 for short articles)
How?

Read the paper at least twice

Make sure that you understand what the author is trying to say
Look at the introduction (defines what is the topic)
Look at the conclusion (states the main point of the paper)

For each section in the paper, write one or two sentences that
define the main points that the author is making if you cant do
this, it may be because the paper is badly written and the author
has nothing to say
Look for bulleted or numbered lists these often highlight
important points that the author is trying to make
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Example of an Executive Summary

4

A View of 20th and 21st Century Software

Engineering
The

paper identifies some of the major sources of

change that will affect software engineering practices
in the next couple of decades, and identifies some
strategies for assessing and adapting to these sources
of change
Identifies per decade the principles and aging
practices of software engineering
Summarizes some implications for future software
engineering researchers, practitioners, and educators
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Critiques
5

Comment on what you think are the weaknesses of

the paper (500-600 words) by looking for claims of
the author that do not have sufficient evidence
Look for:
Claims

what the author is claiming to be true

Evidence information that backs up claims, e.g.,
references to other papers, statistical data, etc.

Think about:
Rebuttals

- arguments why the claim might not be true

Counter-evidence - evidence that contradicts the claim
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Questions to Address
6
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

8.
9.

Is the title of the article appropriate and clear?

Is the abstract specific, representative of the article, and in the correct form?
Is the purpose of the article made clear in the introduction?
Do you find errors of fact and interpretation?
Is all of the discussion relevant?
Has the author cited the pertinent, and only the pertinent, literature? If the author
has included inconsequential references, or references that are not pertinent,
suggest deleting them
Have any ideas been overemphasized or underemphasized? Suggest specific
revisions
Should some sections of the manuscript be expanded, condensed or omitted?
Are the authors statements clear? Challenge ambiguous statements. Suggest by
examples how clarity can be achieved, but do not merely substitute your style for
the authors

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Questions to Address
7
10.

11.
12.

13.

14.

15.

16.
17.

What underlying assumptions does the author have?

Has the author been objective in his or her discussion of the topic?
Is the objective of the experiment or of the observations important for the
field?
Are the experimental methods described adequately?
Are the study design and methods appropriate for the purposes of the
study?
Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable a reader
to duplicate them?
Scan and spot-check calculations. Are the statistical methods appropriate?
Do you find any content repeated or duplicated? A common fault is
repetition in the text of data in tables or figures. Suggest that tabular
data be interpreted of summarized, nor merely repeated, in the text

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Discussion
8

A View of 20th and 21st Century Software Engineering

Which are the previous successful software experiences that
we should attempt to imitate?
Which past software engineering failures we should avoid
repeating?
Which incidents have lead to the evolution of software
engineering practices?
Which are the important sources of change that will
influence software engineering practices in the next two
decades?
How are these sources of change evaluated and applied?
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

Software Engineering Trends

9

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

1950s and 1960s

10

1950s
Thesis:
Software
Engineering is like Hardware
Engineering

Software characteristics differ

from hardware
Problems coping with rapidly
increasing demand for software
Shortage of non-engineering and
software professionals

1960s Antithesis:
Crafting

Software

Complex and tangled control

structure in source code
Quick patch fixing of bugs lead
to more bugs in code
Increase in size of software
causes difficulty for management
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

1970s and 1980s

11

1970s Synthesis and Antithesis:

Formality
and
Waterfall
Processes

Issues concerning scalability and

usability of formal methods by
non-expert programmers
Problems with high volume of
documentation, and slow and
costly usage of waterfall model
Troubles with noncompliance of
process

1980s Synthesis: Productivity

and Scalability

Necessary mechanisms to cater

for the rapid expansion of O-O
Need to market software faster
Greater demand for HCI

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

1990s and 2000s

12

1990s Antithesis Concurrent vs.

Sequential Processing

Rapid change of pace causes

problems with CMM compliance and
large amounts of documents
Need to adapt technology to users
Lack of efficient communication,
cooperation
and
coordination
between people and systems

2000s Antithesis and Partial

Synthesis: Agility and Value

Problem coping with continuing

changes in software infrastructure
and domain restructuring
Identify ways to exploit low-cost,
high-bandwidth communications for
global connectivity and outsourcing
Dealing with integration of related
software-intensive systems into SOS
EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012

2010s and 2020s

13

2010s Antithesis and Partial

Synthesis: Globalization and
Systems of Systems

Challenges concerning the

specification
for
the
configuration and behaviour
of smarts, nanos, micros and
other new types of apps

2020s and Beyond

Loss of human primacy and

over-empowerment
Undebuggable self-modified
software and commonsense
reasoning failure

EPL 603 Topics in Software Engineering

05/09/2012