Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cost-Benefits of Traceability

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Software and Systems Traceability

Abstract

Traceability can provide substantial benefits, but many software development projects fail to employ best practise in traceability. A major factor in this is the relatively high cost of traceability and the difficulty of assessing its long term financial benefits. We discuss techniques for implementing requirements traceability in such a way as to maximise the potential benefits whilst minimising the costs, but still ensuring that trace data collected meets the needs of the project. Finally we suggest a simple, practical cost analysis for developing an appropriate traceability strategy, underpinned by value-based software engineering principles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Albrecht, A.J.: Measuring application development productivity. In: Proceedings, IBM Applications Development Symposium, pp. 14–17. Monterey, CA (1979, October)

    Google Scholar 

  • Albrecht, A.J., Gaffney, J.E., Jr.: Software function, source lines of code, and development effort prediction: A software science validation. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. SE-9, 639–648 (1983, November)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arisholm, E., Briand, L.C., Føyen, A.: Dynamic coupling measurement for object-oriented software. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 30(8), 491–506 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basili, V.R., Briand, L.C., Melo, W.L.: A validation of object-oriented design metrics as quality indicators. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 22(10), 751–761 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boehm, B., Huang, L.G.: Value-based software engineering: A case study. IEEE Softw. 36(3), 33–41 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Briand, L.C., Wüst, J., Lounis, H.: Using coupling measurement for impact analysis in object-oriented systems. In: Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, (ICSM ’99), pp. 475–482. ICSM, Oxford, England (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaumun, M. Ajmal, K., Hind, K., Rudolf K., Lustman, F.: Département IRO, and Université De Montréal. A change impact model for changeability assessment in object-oriented software systems. In: Proceedings of the Third Euromicro Working Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering, pp. 130–138 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleland-Huang, J.: Just enough requirements traceability. In: 30th Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2006), pp. 41–42 (2006, September)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleland-Huang, J., Change, C.K., Christensen, M.: Event-based traceability for managing evolutionary change. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 29(9), 796–810 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleland-Huang, J., Zemont, G., Lukasik, W.: A heterogeneous solution for improving the return on investment of requirements traceability. In: 12th IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering (RE 2004), pp. 230–239 (2004, September)

    Google Scholar 

  • Egyed, A.: Determining the cost-quality trade-off for automated software traceability. ASE 2005:360–363 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Egyed, A., Biffl, S., Heindl, M., Grünbacher, P.: A value-based approach for understanding cost-benefit trade-offs during automated software traceability. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Traceability in Emerging Forms of Software Engineering, TEFSE ’05, pp. 2–7. ACM, New York, NY. ISBN 1-59593-243-7 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Egyed, A., Grünbacher, P., Heindl, M., Biffl, S.: Value-based requirements traceability: Lessons learned. In: 15th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2007, pp. 115–118 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotel, O., Finkelstein, A.: Contribution structures. In: Proceedings of the Second IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering, pp. 100–107 (1995, March)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotel, O., Finkelstein, A.: Extended requirements traceability: Results of an industrial case study. In: International Symposium on Requirements Engineering (RE97), pp. 169–178. Society Press, Annapolis, MD (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, Ah.-R., Jeon, S.-Uk., Bae, D.-H., Hong, J.-E.: Behavioral dependency measurement for change-proneness prediction in UML 2.0 design models. In: COMPSAC ’08: Proceedings of the 2008 32nd Annual IEEE International Computer Software and Applications Conference, pp. 76–83. IEEE Computer Society, Washington, DC. ISBN 978-0-7695-3262-2 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Heindl, M., Biffl, S.. A case study on value-based requirements tracing. In: Proceedings of the 10th European Software Engineering Conference Held Jointly with 13th ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering, pp. 60–69. ISBN 1-59593-014-0 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, L., Boehm, B.: How much software quality investment is enough: A value-based approach. IEEE Softw. 23(5), 88–95 (2006, September/October)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R.T.: Expert judgement as an estimating method. Inform. Softw. Technol. 28, 67–75 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, C., Riddle, S.: Linking software design metrics to component change-proneness. In: WeTSOM 2011 – 2nd International Workshop on Emerging Trends in Software Metrics (WeTSOM 2011). Honolulu, Hawaii (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarke, M.: Requirements tracing. Commun. ACM 41(12), 32–36 (1998, December)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemerer, C.F:. An empirical validation of software cost estimation models. Commun. ACM 30(5), 416–429 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, W., Henry, S.: Object Oriented Metrics Which Predict Maintainability. Technical Report, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia (1993, February)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramesh, B., Powers, T., Stubbs, C.: Implementing requirements traceability: A case study. In: Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering, pp. 89–95 (1995, March).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratzinger, J., Sigmund, T., Vorburger, P., Gall, H.C.: Mining software evolution to predict refactoring. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2007), pp. 354–363. IEEE Computer Society, Madrid, Spain (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkie, F.G., Kitchenham, B.A.: Coupling measures and change ripples in C++ application software. J. Syst. Softw. 52(2–3), 157–164 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, England, UK

    Claire Ingram & Steve Riddle

Authors
  1. Claire Ingram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steve Riddle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire Ingram .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Computing, DePaul University, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 60604, USA

    Jane Cleland-Huang

  2. 720 Greenwich Street, New York, 10014, USA

    Orlena Gotel

  3. , School of Informatics, City University, London, EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom

    Andrea Zisman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ingram, C., Riddle, S. (2012). Cost-Benefits of Traceability. In: Cleland-Huang, J., Gotel, O., Zisman, A. (eds) Software and Systems Traceability. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2239-5_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2239-5_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2238-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2239-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation