Framework for tool evaluation for a maintenance environment

✍ Scribed by Vierimaa, Matias; Taramaa, Jorma; Puustinen, Heli; Suominen, Kati; Ketola, Tommi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 335 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1040-550X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-908x(199805/06)10:3<203::aid-smr173>3.0.co;2-0

✦ Synopsis

Tool evaluation forms an essential part of tool development. Unfortunately, there are only a few solutions for this activity. As part of the AMES project, tool evaluation was implemented as part of a more comprehensive framework, used with the development and application of several AMES tools for application maintenance. These included an application understanding tool-set, a disabbreviation tool, a reverse-engineering tool and an impact analysis tool-set. In addition, the requirement for applicability both to on-board space software and to tool software has directed our approach in setting requirements for tools evaluation.

The central element of the evaluation process was an AMES-developed framework including evaluation criteria and the use of a goal/question/metrics (GQM) based approach. The criteria have produced detailed information about each tool. The final result can be regarded as a combination of the score for each criterion and explicit metrics data. In addition, descriptive information about applications was used in tool evaluation.