The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is becoming the de facto standard
for software analysis and design modeling. However, there is still
significant resistance to model-driven development in many software
organizations because it is perceived to be expensive and not necessarily
cost-effective. Hence, it is important to investigate the benefits
obtained from modeling. As a first step in this direction, this
paper reports on controlled experiments, spanning two locations,
that investigate the impact of UML documentation on software maintenance.
Results show that, for complex tasks and past a certain learning
curve, the availability of UML documentation may result in significant
improvements in the functional correctness of changes as well as
the quality of their design. However, there does not seem to be
any saving of time. For simpler tasks, the time needed to update
the UML documentation may be substantial compared with the potential
benefits, thus motivating the need for UML tools with better support
for software maintenance.
%0 Journal Article
%1 arisholm06
%A Arisholm, E.
%A Briand, L. C.
%A Hove, S. E.
%A Labiche, Y.
%D 2006
%J IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
%K maintenance evolution model uml
%N 6
%P 365--381
%T The Impact of UML Documentation on Software Maintenance: An Experimental
Evaluation
%U http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1650213
%V 32
%X The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is becoming the de facto standard
for software analysis and design modeling. However, there is still
significant resistance to model-driven development in many software
organizations because it is perceived to be expensive and not necessarily
cost-effective. Hence, it is important to investigate the benefits
obtained from modeling. As a first step in this direction, this
paper reports on controlled experiments, spanning two locations,
that investigate the impact of UML documentation on software maintenance.
Results show that, for complex tasks and past a certain learning
curve, the availability of UML documentation may result in significant
improvements in the functional correctness of changes as well as
the quality of their design. However, there does not seem to be
any saving of time. For simpler tasks, the time needed to update
the UML documentation may be substantial compared with the potential
benefits, thus motivating the need for UML tools with better support
for software maintenance.
@article{arisholm06,
abstract = {The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is becoming the de facto standard
for software analysis and design modeling. However, there is still
significant resistance to model-driven development in many software
organizations because it is perceived to be expensive and not necessarily
cost-effective. Hence, it is important to investigate the benefits
obtained from modeling. As a first step in this direction, this
paper reports on controlled experiments, spanning two locations,
that investigate the impact of UML documentation on software maintenance.
Results show that, for complex tasks and past a certain learning
curve, the availability of UML documentation may result in significant
improvements in the functional correctness of changes as well as
the quality of their design. However, there does not seem to be
any saving of time. For simpler tasks, the time needed to update
the UML documentation may be substantial compared with the potential
benefits, thus motivating the need for UML tools with better support
for software maintenance.},
added-at = {2006-09-18T06:26:07.000+0200},
author = {Arisholm, E. and Briand, L. C. and Hove, S. E. and Labiche, Y.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2e0ead83b678068ea5c7f2ea426fd66d1/neilernst},
citeulike-article-id = {757968},
comment = {- sort of a textbook example on how to run a good empirical study},
description = {Not previously uploaded},
interhash = {bf8029e4ebf2206d35a868a96c994074},
intrahash = {e0ead83b678068ea5c7f2ea426fd66d1},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering},
keywords = {maintenance evolution model uml},
number = 6,
pages = {365--381},
priority = {0},
timestamp = {2006-09-18T06:26:07.000+0200},
title = {The Impact of UML Documentation on Software Maintenance: An Experimental
Evaluation},
url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1650213},
volume = 32,
year = 2006
}