The Virtual Software Production Laboratory(VPSL): an innovative approach to accelerate theory building in software engineering

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The objective of the proposed research is to accelerate theory building in software engineering by complementing and integrating current empirical research by a Virtual Software Production Laboratory (VSPL). A VSPL consists of a systematically developed set of reusable software process simulation modules which can be composed and tailored in order to run goal-oriented simulation experiments. In particular, the multitude of variations of an experiment, which is often necessary to cover different impact factors when exploring technology alternatives, can easily be performed in a controlled manner by simulation. Consequently, learning cycles can be shortened, as different starting conditions, external influences, or process characteristics can easily be generated. The main purpose of the VSPL is to produce (generalized) hypotheses about the effectiveness of software development techniques and tools with regards to defined product quality goals. Based upon the collected (individual) pieces of empirical evidence, hypotheses will be created by systematic variation of context factors (i.e., the set of all other relevant methods, tools and techniques in place, combined with people competencies and skills) through combined Monte-Carlo and process simulation. The results of the simulations will be aggregated into effectiveness profiles which serve as well-defined hypotheses that can be exposed to systematic empirical testing. Since the proposed research aims to deliver a proof-of-concept, it will focus on supporting theory building linked to a restricted class of techniques and tools, e.g., focusing on requirements engineering and architectural design.