Information & computer Sciences Department				Visiting Professor Nazim Madhavji CS Dept., UWO
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Afternoon:    (Bldg 22, Room 119)

o       1:00 - 1:45 pm - Research seminar: "The Impact of Requirements Knowledge and

                                  Experience on Software   Architecting"

o       1:45 - 2:15 pm - Coffee/Refreshments break and discussion with interested faculty on

                                  collaborative work and research methods.

Abstract: While the relationship between Requirements Engineering and Software Architecture (SA) has been studied increasingly in the past five years in terms of methods, tools, development models, and paradigms, that in terms of the human agents conducting these processes has barely been explored.  This talk describes the impact of requirements knowledge and experience (RKE) on SA tasks. Specifically, it describes an exploratory, empirical study involving a number of architecting teams, some with requirements background and others without, all architecting from the same set of requirements. The overall results of this study suggest that architects with RKE perform better than those without, and specific areas of architecting are identified where these differences manifest. We discuss the possible implications of the findings on the areas of training, education and technology.

[A paper on this topic will be presented at the IEEE/IFIP Working Int. Conf. on Software Architecture (WICSA), Mumbai, January 2007].

Afternoon:   (Bldg 22, Room 119)

o       1:00 - 1:45 pm - Research seminar:  “A method for developing Evolutionary

                                  scenarios”

o       1:45 - 2:00 pm - Coffee/Refreshments break

Abstract: Software maintainers need appropriate information concerning the change they are about to make to a software system so that they can make suitable choices in their decisions. In this talk, we describe a method (called ESDM) for developing evolutionary scenarios that provide information concerning the impact historical changes of different types have had on the quality of software architectural elements of interest. This information can aid in the decisions maintainers are about to make concerning the change at hand. The effectiveness of the method for developing evolutionary scenarios has been validated through an empirical study on an open source software system (Apache HTTP Server 1.3). Initial support from maintainers for the value of the developed scenarios is a major boost for further work in this area.

[A paper on this topic was presented at the IEEE Int. Conf. on Software Maintenance (ICSM), Philadelphia, September 2006].