Experimental software engineering involves running
experiment
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
s on the processes and procedures involved in the creation of
software system
A software system is a system of intercommunicating components based on software forming part of a computer system (a combination of hardware and software). It "consists of a number of separate programs, configuration files, which are used to se ...
s, with the intent that the data be used as the basis of theories about the processes involved in
software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
(theory backed by data is a fundamental tenet of the
scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientifi ...
). A number o
research groupsprimarily use empirical and experimental techniques.
The term empirical software engineering emphasizes the use of empirical studies of all kinds to accumulate knowledge. Methods used include experiments, case studies, surveys, and using whatever data is available.
Empirical software engineering research
In a keynote at th
International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and MeasurementProf. Wohlin recommended ten commitments that the research community should follow to increase the relevance and impact of empirical software engineering research. However, at the same conference Dr. Ali effectively argued that solely following these will not be enough and we need to do more than just show the evidence substantiating the claimed benefits of our interventions but instead what is required for practical relevance and potential impact is the evidence for cost-effectiveness.
Th
International Software Engineering Research Network (ISERN)is a global community of research groups who are active in experimental software engineering. Its purpose is to advance the practice of and foster university and industry collaborations within experimental software engineering. ISERN holds annual meetings in conjunction with th
International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM)conference.
References
Bibliography
*
Victor Basili, Richard W. Selby, David H. Hutchens, "Experimentation in Software Engineering", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. SE-12, No.7, July 1986
*Basili, V.; Rombach, D.; Schneider, K.; Kitchenham, B.; Pfahl, D.; Selby, R. (Eds.),
Empirical Software Engineering Issues. Critical Assessment and Future Directions',
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 ...
, 2007, .
*
Barry Boehm, Hans Dieter Rombach, and
Marvin V. Zelkowitz (eds.),
Foundations of Empirical Software Engineering — The Legacy of Victor R. Basili',
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 ...
, 2005, .
* Jones, D
Evidence-based Software Engineering based on the publicly available data 2020,
* H. Dieter Rombach, Victor R. Basili and Richard W. Selby (eds.), ''
xperimental Software Engineering Issues: Critical Assessment and Future Directions',
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 ...
, 1993, .
Software engineering folklore
Software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
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