Luis Reynoso, Marcela Genero, Mario Piattini, M. Esperanza Manso

SAC 2006: 1721-1727

Abstract:

Early and precise models started to play an increasingly relevant role since models themselves become the primary focus in recent initiatives of Model-Driven Engineering (such as Model-Driven Development and Model-Driven Architecture). However, a precise model cannot be obtained through the use of Unified Modeling Language (UML), due to the limited expressiveness of diagram-based UML notation. A textual add-on to the UML diagrams is needed, such as the Object Constraint Language (OCL), for reaching complete and consistent models and avoiding underspecification. Aware of the proliferation of measures for UML-based models and the lack of measures to capture the quality aspects of UML/OCL combined models we defined a set of measures for measuring the structural properties of OCL expressions. This paper carefully describes an experiment we have conducted to confirm the conclusions and strengthen the external validity of a previous family of experiments, with the purpose of investigating the relationship between object coupling in OCL expressions and the understandability and modifiability of OCL expressions. Empirical evidence that such a relationship exists is reaffirmed and consolidated.

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