EvoTrace: Evolution-Aware Trace Retrieval

Detecting and avoiding inconsistencies between requirements and products is a common challenge of practical software development projects. Inconsistencies often lead to defects, missed schedules, and budget overruns. The goal of requirements traceability is, therefore, to provide methods, tools, and guidelines to overcome that challenge by making the dependencies between software artifacts manageable. In that context, this book describes the EvoTrace approach, a novel method which simplifies the detection and management of interdependencies between software development artifacts in the context of constantly evolving requirements. EvoTrace improves the semi-omated detection of interdependencies between software development artifacts in general and requirements in particular. It builds on the existing approach of Information Retrieval algorithms, which are typically used in Internet search engines, and applies them to Trace Retrieval. This basic method has been explored and applied in the past by several research groups in the field of requirements traceability with already promising results. The novelty of the EvoTrace approach lies in the anticipation and incorporation of artifact changes into the algorithm, as in most practical software development projects, artifacts change constantly. The aspect of evolution in that area has not been covered so far by existing approaches. The novel approach has been evaluated in detailed experiments with a large industrial dataset. Moreover, this book also discusses the practical applicability of the approach. Therefore, this work shows that integrating change information into the Trace Retrieval approach can greatly improve its effectiveness. Alongside the detailed description of the novel EvoTrace approach, this book gives a detailed introduction into the basics of traceability research and practice. Furthermore, a thorough discussion of the foundations of Information Retrieval and Trace Retrieval is provided. An empirical study of the culture of requirements documentation in German software development companies completes this book.