A Software Engineering Information Model, based on the Building Construction Industry
Abstract
The building construction industry is a mature industry that has demonstrated the use of historical project data, especially cost data, on current projects. In contrast, software engineering projects struggle to find an estimation approach that produces consistent results. A software engineering information model (SEIM) is proposed, and is based on the experiences of the building construction industry. Specifically, the MasterFormatTM and its related classification schemes, and recent work on developing an object-model of construction information are the basis for the SEIM. The SEIM emphasizes techniques and products (i.e., deliverables) as the preferred structure for the management of software engineering information. This structure lends itself to keeping historical cost data analogous to the construction industry's use of MasterFormatTM. In addition, techniques and products are categorized using generic SDLC phases, allowing other types of software engineering measurements to be captured and used.
Reference List
- Bazjanac, V. (1998). Industry Foundation Classes. The Construction Specifier, June 1998, 47-50.
- Bielak, J. (2000). Improving Size Estimates Using Historical Data. IEEE Software, 17(6), 27-35.
- Building Industry Exchange (2000). Building Industry Exchange Indexing Questions. Retrieved April 6, 2002 from http://www.building.org/indexing.html.
- Construction Specification Institute (1999). CSI's Report on the Construction Industry Study. Construction Industry Summit Proceedings, June 1999.
- Construction Specifications Institute (1999). Construction Integration Summit Proceedings. Retrieved July 2, 2002 from http://www.csinet.org/technic/iii/cis1.pdf, cis2.pdf, and cis4.pdf.
- Construction Specifications Institute, and Construction Specifications Canada (1992). PageFormat. Alexandria, Virginia: Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada.
- Construction Specifications Institute, and Construction Specifications Canada (1995). MasterFormatTM: Master List of Numbers and Titles for the Construction Industry. Alexandria, Virginia: Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada.
- Construction Specifications Institute, and Construction Specifications Canada (1997). SectionFormatTM. Alexandria, Virginia: Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada.
- Construction Specifications Institute, and Construction Specifications Canada (1998). UniFormatTM: A Uniform Classification of Construction Systems and Assemblies. Alexandria, Virginia: Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada.
- European Computer Manufacturers Association, and National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States Department of Commerce (1994). ECMA TR/69 (NIST Special Publication 500-213): Reference Model for Project Support Environments. Geneva, Switzerland: ECMA/NIST.
- First International Congress on Construction History (2002). Introduction. Retrieved May 20, 2002 from http://www.aq.upm.es/construction-history/introduction.html.
- Groth, B., Herrmann, S., Jahnichen, S., and Koch, W. (1995). Project Integrating Reference Object Library (PIROL): an Object-Oriented Multiple-View SEE. Proceedings of the 1995 Software Engineering Environment Conferences, 184-193.
- Guthrie, K. (1996). The Future of Construction Information. The Construction Specifier, June 1996, 50-56.
- International Alliance for Interoperability North America (2002). IAI becomes a NIBS Council. Retrieved July 2, 2002 from http://www.iai-na.org/index-bot.cgi.
- Lederer, A. L., and Prasad, J. (1992). Nine Management Guidelines for Better Cost Estimating. Communications of the ACM, 35(2), 50-59.
- Lin, J., and Yeh, C. (1998). An Object-Oriented Formal Model for Software Project Management. Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Software Engineering Conference, 1-8.
- Meyer, B. (1985). The Software Knowledge Base. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Software Engineering, London, England, 158-165.
- Penedo, M.H., and Stuckle, E.D. (1985). PMDB - A Project Master Database for Software Engineering Environments. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Software Engineering, London, England, 150-157.
- Penedo, M.H. (1987). Prototyping a Project Master Database for Software Engineering Environments. Proceedings of the Second ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN Software Engineering Symposium on Practical Software Development Environments, Palo Alto, California, United States, 1-11.
- Pfleeger, S. L. (2001). Software Engineering: Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
- R. S. Means Company, Inc. (1998). RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data: 57th Annual Edition. Kingston, MA, USA: R. S. Means Company, Inc.
- Shrive, C.M. (1996). The Future of Formats. The Construction Specifier, January 1996, 42-49.
- Strelich, T. (1989). The Software Life Cycle Support Environment (SLCSE): A Computer Based Framework for Developing Software Systems. Proceedings of the Third ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN Software Engineering Symposium on Practical Software Development Environments, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 35-44.
- United Kingdom Chapter of the International Alliance for Interoperability (2001). IFC 2x Final. Retrieved July 2, 2002 from http://cig.bre.co.uk/iai_uk/documentation/IfcR2x_Final/.
Last updated on July 29, 2002.