2024
Journal article
Open Access
Product lines of dataflows
Lienhardt M., Ter Beek M. H., Damiani F.
Data-centric parallel programming models such as dataflows are well established to implement complex concurrent software. However, in a context of a configurable software, the dataflow used in its computation might vary with respect to the selected options: this happens in particular in fields such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), where the shape of the domain in which the fluid flows and the equations used to simulate the flow are all options configuring the dataflow to execute. In this paper, we present an approach to implement product lines of dataflows, based on Delta-Oriented Programming (DOP) and term rewriting. This approach includes several analyses to check that all dataflows of a product line can be generated. Moreover, we discuss a prototype implementation of the approach and demonstrate its feasibility in practice.Source: The Journal of systems and software 210 (2024). doi:10.1016/j.jss.2023.111928
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2023.111928
Metrics:
Lienhardt M., Ter Beek M. H., Damiani F.
Data-centric parallel programming models such as dataflows are well established to implement complex concurrent software. However, in a context of a configurable software, the dataflow used in its computation might vary with respect to the selected options: this happens in particular in fields such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), where the shape of the domain in which the fluid flows and the equations used to simulate the flow are all options configuring the dataflow to execute. In this paper, we present an approach to implement product lines of dataflows, based on Delta-Oriented Programming (DOP) and term rewriting. This approach includes several analyses to check that all dataflows of a product line can be generated. Moreover, we discuss a prototype implementation of the approach and demonstrate its feasibility in practice.Source: The Journal of systems and software 210 (2024). doi:10.1016/j.jss.2023.111928
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2023.111928
Metrics:
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ISTI Repository 
| ISTI Repository | www.sciencedirect.com | CNR ExploRA
2023
Contribution to book
Open Access
A case study in formal analysis of system requirements
Belli D., Mazzanti F.
One of the goals of the 4SECURail project has been to demonstrate the benefits, limits, and costs of introducing formal meth- ods in the system requirements definition process. This has been done, on an experimental basis, by applying a specific set of tools and method- ologies to a case study from the railway sector. The paper describes the approach adopted in the project and some considerations resulting from the experience.Source: Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2022 Collocated Workshops, edited by Masci P., Bernardeschi C., Graziani P., Koddenbrock M., Palmieri M., pp. 164–173, 2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-26236-4_14
Project(s): 4SECURAIL
Metrics:
Belli D., Mazzanti F.
One of the goals of the 4SECURail project has been to demonstrate the benefits, limits, and costs of introducing formal meth- ods in the system requirements definition process. This has been done, on an experimental basis, by applying a specific set of tools and method- ologies to a case study from the railway sector. The paper describes the approach adopted in the project and some considerations resulting from the experience.Source: Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2022 Collocated Workshops, edited by Masci P., Bernardeschi C., Graziani P., Koddenbrock M., Palmieri M., pp. 164–173, 2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-26236-4_14
Project(s): 4SECURAIL
Metrics:
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ISTI Repository | doi.org 
| link.springer.com | CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
Strategies, benefits and challenges of app store-inspired requirements elicitation
Ferrari A., Spoletini P.
App store-inspired elicitation is the practice of exploring competitors' apps, to get inspiration for requirements. This activity is common among developers, but little insight is available on its practical use, advantages and possible issues. This paper aims to empirically analyse this technique in a realistic scenario, in which it is used to extend the requirements of a product that were initially captured by means of more traditional requirements elicitation interviews. Considering this scenario, we conduct an experimental simulation with 58 analysts and collect qualitative data. We perform thematic analysis of the data to identify strategies, benefits, and challenges of app store-inspired elicitation, as well as differences with respect to interviews in the considered elicitation setting. Our results show that: (1) specific guidelines and procedures are required to better conduct app store-inspired elicitation; (2) current search features made available by app stores are not suitable for this practice, and more tool support is required to help analysts in the retrieval and evaluation of competing products; (3) while interviews focus on the why dimension of requirements engineering (i.e., goals), app store-inspired elicitation focuses on how (i.e., solutions), offering indications for implementation and improved usability. Our study provides a framework for researchers to address existing challenges and suggests possible benefits to fostering app store-inspired elicitation among practitioners.Source: ICSE 2023 - 45th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 1290–1302, Melbourne, Australia, 14-20/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/icse48619.2023.00114
Metrics:
Ferrari A., Spoletini P.
App store-inspired elicitation is the practice of exploring competitors' apps, to get inspiration for requirements. This activity is common among developers, but little insight is available on its practical use, advantages and possible issues. This paper aims to empirically analyse this technique in a realistic scenario, in which it is used to extend the requirements of a product that were initially captured by means of more traditional requirements elicitation interviews. Considering this scenario, we conduct an experimental simulation with 58 analysts and collect qualitative data. We perform thematic analysis of the data to identify strategies, benefits, and challenges of app store-inspired elicitation, as well as differences with respect to interviews in the considered elicitation setting. Our results show that: (1) specific guidelines and procedures are required to better conduct app store-inspired elicitation; (2) current search features made available by app stores are not suitable for this practice, and more tool support is required to help analysts in the retrieval and evaluation of competing products; (3) while interviews focus on the why dimension of requirements engineering (i.e., goals), app store-inspired elicitation focuses on how (i.e., solutions), offering indications for implementation and improved usability. Our study provides a framework for researchers to address existing challenges and suggests possible benefits to fostering app store-inspired elicitation among practitioners.Source: ICSE 2023 - 45th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 1290–1302, Melbourne, Australia, 14-20/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/icse48619.2023.00114
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ISTI Repository | dl.acm.org | CNR ExploRA
2023
Contribution to journal
Open Access
Systems and software product lines of the future
Ter Beek M. H., Schaefer I.
Source: The Journal of systems and software 199 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.jss.2023.111622
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2023.111622
Metrics:
Ter Beek M. H., Schaefer I.
Source: The Journal of systems and software 199 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.jss.2023.111622
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2023.111622
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2023
Contribution to conference
Open Access
Digitalisation of agriculture: development and evaluation of a model-based requirements engineering process
Mannari C., Spagnolo G. O., Bacco M., Malizia A.
[Context and Motivation] The requirements elicitation process for socio-technical systems requires the involvement of diverse stakeholders with different backgrounds and skills. In these contexts, ef- fective communication between business analysts and stakeholders can be supported by model-based requirements engineering (MoDRE) strategies, which leverage diagrammatic notations as a means for information exchange. [Question/Problem] Several diagrams and approaches exist to facilitate MoDRE. However, empirical evidence on their applicability to real-world contexts with a relevant social com- ponent, and going through a process of digitalisation, is limited. Furthermore, existing approaches do not evaluate the impact that the deployment of a novel digital system has on the process and its actors. [Principal idea/Results] The research outlined in this paper aims to evaluate the joint usage of typical requirements engineer notations, namely i*, class diagrams, and business process models in the elicitation of requirements for socially-intensive systems that are going through a transformative digitalisation process. We apply these notations to represent the system-as-is, and the system-to-be, with the goal of also evaluating the impact of digitalisation. We focus on living labs (LL, i.e., networks of stakeholders participating in a socio-technical system) belonging to the agriculture domain, and provide a preliminary application on a farm that is introducing an AI-based irrigation system. [Contribution] The results show that effective communication with non-technical stakeholders is feasible with the envisioned approach. Although multiple iterations are required, agronomists and farmers are able to provide constructive feedback on the basis of the models. Furthermore, impacts in terms of additional/removed tasks and actors can be effectively characterised through business process models. As part of our overall project, we will refine the method, and then apply it in 20 living labs in the EU.Source: REFSQ 2023 - 29th International Working Conference on Requirement Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: Posters and Tools, Barcelona, Spain, 17-20/04/2023
Mannari C., Spagnolo G. O., Bacco M., Malizia A.
[Context and Motivation] The requirements elicitation process for socio-technical systems requires the involvement of diverse stakeholders with different backgrounds and skills. In these contexts, ef- fective communication between business analysts and stakeholders can be supported by model-based requirements engineering (MoDRE) strategies, which leverage diagrammatic notations as a means for information exchange. [Question/Problem] Several diagrams and approaches exist to facilitate MoDRE. However, empirical evidence on their applicability to real-world contexts with a relevant social com- ponent, and going through a process of digitalisation, is limited. Furthermore, existing approaches do not evaluate the impact that the deployment of a novel digital system has on the process and its actors. [Principal idea/Results] The research outlined in this paper aims to evaluate the joint usage of typical requirements engineer notations, namely i*, class diagrams, and business process models in the elicitation of requirements for socially-intensive systems that are going through a transformative digitalisation process. We apply these notations to represent the system-as-is, and the system-to-be, with the goal of also evaluating the impact of digitalisation. We focus on living labs (LL, i.e., networks of stakeholders participating in a socio-technical system) belonging to the agriculture domain, and provide a preliminary application on a farm that is introducing an AI-based irrigation system. [Contribution] The results show that effective communication with non-technical stakeholders is feasible with the envisioned approach. Although multiple iterations are required, agronomists and farmers are able to provide constructive feedback on the basis of the models. Furthermore, impacts in terms of additional/removed tasks and actors can be effectively characterised through business process models. As part of our overall project, we will refine the method, and then apply it in 20 living labs in the EU.Source: REFSQ 2023 - 29th International Working Conference on Requirement Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: Posters and Tools, Barcelona, Spain, 17-20/04/2023
See at:
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2023
Conference article
Open Access
Remote sensing and machine learning for riparian vegetation detection and classification
Fiorentini N., Bacco M., Ferrari A., Rovai M., Brunori G.
Precise and reliable identification of riparian vegetation along rivers is of paramount importance for managing bodies, enabling them to accurately plan key duties, such as the design of river maintenance interventions. Nonetheless, manual mapping is significantly expensive in terms of time and human costs, especially when authorities have to manage extensive river networks. Accordingly, in the present paper, we propose a methodology for classifying and automatically mapping the riparian vegetation of urban rivers. Specifically, the calibration of an unsupervised (Isodata Clustering) and a supervised (Random Forest) machine learning algorithm (MLA) is carried out for the classification of the riparian vegetation detected in high-resolution (1m) aerial orthoimages. Riparian vegetation is classified using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) features. In the framework of this research, the Isodata Clustering slightly outperforms the Random Forest, achieving a higher level of predictive performance and reliability throughout all the computed performance metrics. Moreover, being unsupervised, it does not require ground truth information, which makes it particularly competitive in terms of annotation costs when compared with supervised algorithms, and definitely appropriate in case of limited resources. We encourage river authorities to use MLA-based tools, such as the ones we propose in this work, for mapping riparian vegetation, since they can bring relevant benefits, such as limited implementation costs, easy calibration, fast training, and adequate reliability.Source: MetroAgriFor 2023 - IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Agriculture and Forestry, Pisa, Italy, 6-8/11/2023
Project(s): DESIRA
Fiorentini N., Bacco M., Ferrari A., Rovai M., Brunori G.
Precise and reliable identification of riparian vegetation along rivers is of paramount importance for managing bodies, enabling them to accurately plan key duties, such as the design of river maintenance interventions. Nonetheless, manual mapping is significantly expensive in terms of time and human costs, especially when authorities have to manage extensive river networks. Accordingly, in the present paper, we propose a methodology for classifying and automatically mapping the riparian vegetation of urban rivers. Specifically, the calibration of an unsupervised (Isodata Clustering) and a supervised (Random Forest) machine learning algorithm (MLA) is carried out for the classification of the riparian vegetation detected in high-resolution (1m) aerial orthoimages. Riparian vegetation is classified using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) features. In the framework of this research, the Isodata Clustering slightly outperforms the Random Forest, achieving a higher level of predictive performance and reliability throughout all the computed performance metrics. Moreover, being unsupervised, it does not require ground truth information, which makes it particularly competitive in terms of annotation costs when compared with supervised algorithms, and definitely appropriate in case of limited resources. We encourage river authorities to use MLA-based tools, such as the ones we propose in this work, for mapping riparian vegetation, since they can bring relevant benefits, such as limited implementation costs, easy calibration, fast training, and adequate reliability.Source: MetroAgriFor 2023 - IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Agriculture and Forestry, Pisa, Italy, 6-8/11/2023
Project(s): DESIRA
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ISTI Repository | CNR ExploRA
2023
Report
Open Access
On bisimilarity for polyhedral models and SLCS - Preliminary version
Ciancia V., Gabelaia D., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
The notion of bisimilarity plays an important role in concurrency theory. It provides formal support to the idea of processes having "equivalent behaviour" and is a powerful tool for model reduction. Furthermore, bisimilarity typically coincides with logical equivalence of an appropriate modal logic enabling model checking to be applied on reduced models. Recently, notions of bisimilarity have been proposed also for models of space, including those based on polyhedra. The latter are central in many domains of application that exploit mesh processing and typically consist of millions of cells, the basic components of face-poset models, discrete representations of polyhedral models. This paper builds on the polyhedral semantics of the Spatial Logic for Closure Spaces (SLCS) for which the geometric spatial model checker PolyLogicA has been de- veloped, that is based on face-poset models. We propose a novel notion of spatial bisimilarity, called plus-minus-bisimilarity, for face-poset models. We show that it coincides with logical equivalence induced by SLCS on such models. The latter corresponds to logical equivalence (based on SLCS) on polyhedra which, in turn, coincides with simplicial bisimilarity, a notion of bisimilarity for continuous spaces.Source: ISTI Technical Report, ISTI-2023-TR/003, 2023
DOI: 10.32079/isti-tr-2023/003
Metrics:
Ciancia V., Gabelaia D., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
The notion of bisimilarity plays an important role in concurrency theory. It provides formal support to the idea of processes having "equivalent behaviour" and is a powerful tool for model reduction. Furthermore, bisimilarity typically coincides with logical equivalence of an appropriate modal logic enabling model checking to be applied on reduced models. Recently, notions of bisimilarity have been proposed also for models of space, including those based on polyhedra. The latter are central in many domains of application that exploit mesh processing and typically consist of millions of cells, the basic components of face-poset models, discrete representations of polyhedral models. This paper builds on the polyhedral semantics of the Spatial Logic for Closure Spaces (SLCS) for which the geometric spatial model checker PolyLogicA has been de- veloped, that is based on face-poset models. We propose a novel notion of spatial bisimilarity, called plus-minus-bisimilarity, for face-poset models. We show that it coincides with logical equivalence induced by SLCS on such models. The latter corresponds to logical equivalence (based on SLCS) on polyhedra which, in turn, coincides with simplicial bisimilarity, a notion of bisimilarity for continuous spaces.Source: ISTI Technical Report, ISTI-2023-TR/003, 2023
DOI: 10.32079/isti-tr-2023/003
Metrics:
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ISTI Repository | CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
Minimisation of spatial models using branching bisimilarity
Ciancia V., Groote J. F., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
Spatial logic and spatial model checking have great potential for traditional computer science domains and beyond. Reasoning about space involves two different conditional reachability modalities: a forward reachability, similar to that used in temporal logic, and a backward modality representing that a point can be reached from another point, under certain conditions. Since spatial models can be huge, suitable model minimisation techniques are crucial for efficient model checking. An effective minimisation method for the recent notion of spatial Compatible Path (CoPa)-bisimilarity is proposed, and shown to be correct. The core of our method is the encoding of Closure Models as Labelled Transition Systems, enabling minimisation algorithms for branching bisimulation to compute CoPa equivalence classes. Initial validation via benchmark examples demonstrates a promising speed-up in model checking of spatial properties for models of realistic size.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 263–281, Luebeck, Germany, 6-10/03/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_16
Metrics:
Ciancia V., Groote J. F., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
Spatial logic and spatial model checking have great potential for traditional computer science domains and beyond. Reasoning about space involves two different conditional reachability modalities: a forward reachability, similar to that used in temporal logic, and a backward modality representing that a point can be reached from another point, under certain conditions. Since spatial models can be huge, suitable model minimisation techniques are crucial for efficient model checking. An effective minimisation method for the recent notion of spatial Compatible Path (CoPa)-bisimilarity is proposed, and shown to be correct. The core of our method is the encoding of Closure Models as Labelled Transition Systems, enabling minimisation algorithms for branching bisimulation to compute CoPa equivalence classes. Initial validation via benchmark examples demonstrates a promising speed-up in model checking of spatial properties for models of realistic size.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 263–281, Luebeck, Germany, 6-10/03/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_16
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ISTI Repository | CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
Can we communicate? Using dynamic logic to verify team automata
Ter Beek M. H., Cledou G., Hennicker R., Proença J.
Team automata describe networks of automata with input and output actions, extended with synchronisation policies guiding how many interacting components can synchronise on a shared input/output action. Given such a team automaton, we can reason over communication properties such as receptiveness (sent messages must be received) and responsiveness (pending receivesmust be satisfied). Previouswork focused on how to identify these communication properties. However, automatically verifying these properties is non-trivial, as it may involve traversing networks of interacting automata with large state spaces. This paper investigates (1) how to characterise communication properties for team automata (and subsumed models) using test-free propositional dynamic logic, and (2) how to use this characterisation to verify communication properties by model checking. A prototype tool supports the theory, using a transformation to interact with the mCRL2 tool for model checking.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 122–141, Lübeck, Germany, 6-10/3/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_9
Metrics:
Ter Beek M. H., Cledou G., Hennicker R., Proença J.
Team automata describe networks of automata with input and output actions, extended with synchronisation policies guiding how many interacting components can synchronise on a shared input/output action. Given such a team automaton, we can reason over communication properties such as receptiveness (sent messages must be received) and responsiveness (pending receivesmust be satisfied). Previouswork focused on how to identify these communication properties. However, automatically verifying these properties is non-trivial, as it may involve traversing networks of interacting automata with large state spaces. This paper investigates (1) how to characterise communication properties for team automata (and subsumed models) using test-free propositional dynamic logic, and (2) how to use this characterisation to verify communication properties by model checking. A prototype tool supports the theory, using a transformation to interact with the mCRL2 tool for model checking.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 122–141, Lübeck, Germany, 6-10/3/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_9
Metrics:
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ISTI Repository | link.springer.com | CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
A runtime environment for contract automata
Basile D., Ter Beek M. H.
Contract automata have been introduced for specifying applications through behavioural contracts and for synthesising their orchestrations as finite state automata. This paper addresses the realisation of applications from contract automata specifications. We present CARE, a new runtime environment to coordinate services implementing contracts that guarantees the adherence of the implementation to its contract. We discuss how CARE can be adopted to realise contract-based applications, its formal guarantees, and we identify the responsibilities of the involved business actors. Experiments show the benefits of adopting CARE with respect to manual implementations.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 550–567, Lübeck, Germany, 6-10/3/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_31
Metrics:
Basile D., Ter Beek M. H.
Contract automata have been introduced for specifying applications through behavioural contracts and for synthesising their orchestrations as finite state automata. This paper addresses the realisation of applications from contract automata specifications. We present CARE, a new runtime environment to coordinate services implementing contracts that guarantees the adherence of the implementation to its contract. We discuss how CARE can be adopted to realise contract-based applications, its formal guarantees, and we identify the responsibilities of the involved business actors. Experiments show the benefits of adopting CARE with respect to manual implementations.Source: FM'23 - 25th International Symposium on Formal Methods, pp. 550–567, Lübeck, Germany, 6-10/3/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27481-7_31
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2023
Contribution to book
Open Access
Caratteristiche, prospettive e problematicità dell'Intelligenza Artificiale
Latella D., Siroli G. P., Tamburrini G.
Breve introduzione ai concetti fondamentali sui quali si basa l'intelligenza artificiale e alle problematiche alle quali il suo uso, specie in contesti critici, puo' dare origine. Viene data una breve introduzione storica e di inquadramento. Si approfondiscono alcuni aspetti dell'apprendimento automatico e si discutono alcuni suoi limiti e problematicità.Source: Dai droni alle armi autonome. Lasciare l'Apocalisse alle macchine?, edited by Farruggia F., pp. 43–60. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2023
Latella D., Siroli G. P., Tamburrini G.
Breve introduzione ai concetti fondamentali sui quali si basa l'intelligenza artificiale e alle problematiche alle quali il suo uso, specie in contesti critici, puo' dare origine. Viene data una breve introduzione storica e di inquadramento. Si approfondiscono alcuni aspetti dell'apprendimento automatico e si discutono alcuni suoi limiti e problematicità.Source: Dai droni alle armi autonome. Lasciare l'Apocalisse alle macchine?, edited by Farruggia F., pp. 43–60. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2023
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ISTI Repository | series.francoangeli.it | CNR ExploRA
2023
Journal article
Open Access
Zero-shot learning for requirements classification: an exploratory study
Alhoshan W., Ferrari A., Zhao L.
Context: Requirements engineering researchers have been experimenting with machine learning and deep learning approaches for a range of RE tasks, such as requirements classification, requirements tracing, ambiguity detection, and modelling. However, most of today's ML/DL approaches are based on supervised learning techniques, meaning that they need to be trained using a large amount of task-specific labelled training data. This constraint poses an enormous challenge to RE researchers, as the lack of labelled data makes it difficult for them to fully exploit the benefit of advanced ML/DL technologies. Objective: This paper addresses this problem by showing how a zero-shot learning approach can be used for requirements classification without using any labelled training data. We focus on the classification task because many RE tasks can be framed as classification problems. Method: The ZSL approach used in our study employs contextual word-embeddings and transformer-based language models. We demonstrate this approach through a series of experiments to perform three classification tasks: (1)FR/NFR: classification functional requirements vs non-functional requirements; (2)NFR: identification of NFR classes; (3)Security: classification of security vs non-security requirements. Results: The study shows that the ZSL approach achieves an F1 score of 0.66 for the FR/NFR task. For the NFR task, the approach yields F1~0.72-0.80, considering the most frequent classes. For the Security task, F1~0.66. All of the aforementioned F1 scores are achieved with zero-training efforts. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential of ZSL for requirements classification. An important implication is that it is possible to have very little or no training data to perform classification tasks. The proposed approach thus contributes to the solution of the long-standing problem of data shortage in RE.Source: Information and software technology 159 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107202
DOI: 10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107202
Metrics:
Alhoshan W., Ferrari A., Zhao L.
Context: Requirements engineering researchers have been experimenting with machine learning and deep learning approaches for a range of RE tasks, such as requirements classification, requirements tracing, ambiguity detection, and modelling. However, most of today's ML/DL approaches are based on supervised learning techniques, meaning that they need to be trained using a large amount of task-specific labelled training data. This constraint poses an enormous challenge to RE researchers, as the lack of labelled data makes it difficult for them to fully exploit the benefit of advanced ML/DL technologies. Objective: This paper addresses this problem by showing how a zero-shot learning approach can be used for requirements classification without using any labelled training data. We focus on the classification task because many RE tasks can be framed as classification problems. Method: The ZSL approach used in our study employs contextual word-embeddings and transformer-based language models. We demonstrate this approach through a series of experiments to perform three classification tasks: (1)FR/NFR: classification functional requirements vs non-functional requirements; (2)NFR: identification of NFR classes; (3)Security: classification of security vs non-security requirements. Results: The study shows that the ZSL approach achieves an F1 score of 0.66 for the FR/NFR task. For the NFR task, the approach yields F1~0.72-0.80, considering the most frequent classes. For the Security task, F1~0.66. All of the aforementioned F1 scores are achieved with zero-training efforts. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential of ZSL for requirements classification. An important implication is that it is possible to have very little or no training data to perform classification tasks. The proposed approach thus contributes to the solution of the long-standing problem of data shortage in RE.Source: Information and software technology 159 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107202
DOI: 10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107202
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ISTI Repository | ISTI Repository | ISTI Repository | www.sciencedirect.com | CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Unknown
Digitalising agriculture: design and development of a modelling web environment for end-users
Mannari C., Anichini E., Malizia A., Turchi T., Ferrari A., Bacco M.
Modern digital technologies have a promising potential in the development of sustainable agriculture. For example, cloud computers powered by 5G IoT components allow the development of sophisticated applications -- e.g., for food traceability, pest detection, automatic irrigation -- also making use of different AI-based techniques. At the same time, digitalisation in agriculture is considered a socio-technical process to be evaluated by different stakeholders through collaborative approaches. Model-based requirements engineering strategies, which leverage diagrammatic notations, can support information exchange between different domains. Based on the evaluation of different solutions, we found a lack of tools for designing and modelling systems accessible to end-users. Most professional tools are desktop applications based on complex interactions, limited user experience, or generalist web platforms needing more formal components. In our study, we developed a prototype of a web environment for modelling systems based on a visual language that can be exported into standard code. We aim to involve end-users in modelling their digital ecosystems as a preliminary task for developing further applications. The prototype was evaluated in a workshop with experts following the cognitive walkthrough methodology for usability inspection. The evaluation highlighted the UI requirements to support easy-to-understand visual elements and maximise the understanding of actions while limiting user errors.Source: VL/HCC 2023 - IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, Washington, DC, USA, 2-6/10/2023
Mannari C., Anichini E., Malizia A., Turchi T., Ferrari A., Bacco M.
Modern digital technologies have a promising potential in the development of sustainable agriculture. For example, cloud computers powered by 5G IoT components allow the development of sophisticated applications -- e.g., for food traceability, pest detection, automatic irrigation -- also making use of different AI-based techniques. At the same time, digitalisation in agriculture is considered a socio-technical process to be evaluated by different stakeholders through collaborative approaches. Model-based requirements engineering strategies, which leverage diagrammatic notations, can support information exchange between different domains. Based on the evaluation of different solutions, we found a lack of tools for designing and modelling systems accessible to end-users. Most professional tools are desktop applications based on complex interactions, limited user experience, or generalist web platforms needing more formal components. In our study, we developed a prototype of a web environment for modelling systems based on a visual language that can be exported into standard code. We aim to involve end-users in modelling their digital ecosystems as a preliminary task for developing further applications. The prototype was evaluated in a workshop with experts following the cognitive walkthrough methodology for usability inspection. The evaluation highlighted the UI requirements to support easy-to-understand visual elements and maximise the understanding of actions while limiting user errors.Source: VL/HCC 2023 - IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, Washington, DC, USA, 2-6/10/2023
See at: CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
Mutant equivalence as monotonicity in parametric timed games
Basile D., Ter Beek M. H., Göttmann H., Lochau M.
The detection of faults in software systems can be enhanced effectively by model-based mutation testing. The efficiency of this technique is hindered when mutants are equivalent to the original system model, since this makes them useless. Recently, the application of model-based mutation testing to real-time systems modelled as timed games has been investigated, which has resulted in guidelines for statically avoiding equivalent mutants. In this paper, we recast this problem into the framework of parametric timed games. We then prove a correspondence between theoretical results for the detection of equivalent mutants in timed games and the property of monotonicity that is known to hold for a sub-class of parametric timed games called L/U parametric timed games. The presented results not only simplify the theory underlying the detection of equivalent mutants in timed games, but at the same time they improve the expressiveness of a known decidable fragment of parametric timed games for which monotonicity holds.Source: FormaliSE'23 - 11th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Formal Methods in Software Engineering, pp. 55–65, Melbourne, Australia, 14-15/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/formalise58978.2023.00014
Metrics:
Basile D., Ter Beek M. H., Göttmann H., Lochau M.
The detection of faults in software systems can be enhanced effectively by model-based mutation testing. The efficiency of this technique is hindered when mutants are equivalent to the original system model, since this makes them useless. Recently, the application of model-based mutation testing to real-time systems modelled as timed games has been investigated, which has resulted in guidelines for statically avoiding equivalent mutants. In this paper, we recast this problem into the framework of parametric timed games. We then prove a correspondence between theoretical results for the detection of equivalent mutants in timed games and the property of monotonicity that is known to hold for a sub-class of parametric timed games called L/U parametric timed games. The presented results not only simplify the theory underlying the detection of equivalent mutants in timed games, but at the same time they improve the expressiveness of a known decidable fragment of parametric timed games for which monotonicity holds.Source: FormaliSE'23 - 11th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Formal Methods in Software Engineering, pp. 55–65, Melbourne, Australia, 14-15/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/formalise58978.2023.00014
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2023
Conference article
Open Access
Evaluating a language workbench: from working memory capacity to comprehension to acceptance
Broccia G., Ferrari A., Ter Beek M. H., Cazzola W., Favalli L., Bertolotti F.
Language workbenches are tools that enable the definition, reuse and composition of programming languages and their ecosystem. This breed of frameworks aims to make the development of new languages easier and more affordable. Consequently, the comprehensibility of the language used in a language workbench (i.e., the meta-language) should be an important aspect to consider and evaluate. To the best of our knowledge, although the quantitative aspects of language workbenches are often discussed in the literature, the evaluation of comprehensibility is typically neglected. Neverlang is a language workbench that enables the definition of languages with a modular approach. This paper presents a preliminary study that intends to assess the comprehensibility of Neverlang programs, evaluated in terms of users' effectiveness and efficiency in a code comprehension task. The study also investigates the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and the users' working memory capacity. Furthermore, we intend to capture the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and users' acceptance, in terms of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to use. Our preliminary results on 10 subjects suggest that the users' working memory capacity may be related to the ability to comprehend Neverlang programs. On the other hand, effectiveness and efficiency do not appear to be associated with an increase in users' acceptance variables.Source: ICPC'23 - 31st IEEE/ACM International Conference on Program Comprehension, pp. 54–58, Melbourne, Australia, 15-16/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/icpc58990.2023.00017
Metrics:
Broccia G., Ferrari A., Ter Beek M. H., Cazzola W., Favalli L., Bertolotti F.
Language workbenches are tools that enable the definition, reuse and composition of programming languages and their ecosystem. This breed of frameworks aims to make the development of new languages easier and more affordable. Consequently, the comprehensibility of the language used in a language workbench (i.e., the meta-language) should be an important aspect to consider and evaluate. To the best of our knowledge, although the quantitative aspects of language workbenches are often discussed in the literature, the evaluation of comprehensibility is typically neglected. Neverlang is a language workbench that enables the definition of languages with a modular approach. This paper presents a preliminary study that intends to assess the comprehensibility of Neverlang programs, evaluated in terms of users' effectiveness and efficiency in a code comprehension task. The study also investigates the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and the users' working memory capacity. Furthermore, we intend to capture the relationship between Neverlang comprehensibility and users' acceptance, in terms of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to use. Our preliminary results on 10 subjects suggest that the users' working memory capacity may be related to the ability to comprehend Neverlang programs. On the other hand, effectiveness and efficiency do not appear to be associated with an increase in users' acceptance variables.Source: ICPC'23 - 31st IEEE/ACM International Conference on Program Comprehension, pp. 54–58, Melbourne, Australia, 15-16/05/2023
DOI: 10.1109/icpc58990.2023.00017
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2023
Conference article
Open Access
Rule-based NLP vs ChatGPT in ambiguity detection, a preliminary study
Fantechi A., Gnesi S., Semini L.
With the rapid advances of AI-based tools, the question of whether to use such tools or conventional rule-based tools often arises in many application domains. In this paper, we address this question when considering the issue of ambiguity in requirements documents. For this purpose, we consider GPT-3 that is the third-generation of the Generative Pretrained Transformer language model, developed by OpenAI and we compare its ambiguity detection capability with that of a publicly available rule-based NLP tool on a few example requirements documents.Source: REFSQ 2023 - 29th International Working Conference on Requirement Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: Posters and Tools, Barcelona, Spain, 17-20/04/2023
Fantechi A., Gnesi S., Semini L.
With the rapid advances of AI-based tools, the question of whether to use such tools or conventional rule-based tools often arises in many application domains. In this paper, we address this question when considering the issue of ambiguity in requirements documents. For this purpose, we consider GPT-3 that is the third-generation of the Generative Pretrained Transformer language model, developed by OpenAI and we compare its ambiguity detection capability with that of a publicly available rule-based NLP tool on a few example requirements documents.Source: REFSQ 2023 - 29th International Working Conference on Requirement Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: Posters and Tools, Barcelona, Spain, 17-20/04/2023
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2023
Contribution to journal
Open Access
Fundamentals of Software Engineering (extended versions of selected papers of FSEN 2021)
Hojjat H., Massink M.
Source: Science of computer programming (Print) 225 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.scico.2022.102913
DOI: 10.1016/j.scico.2022.102913
Metrics:
Hojjat H., Massink M.
Source: Science of computer programming (Print) 225 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.scico.2022.102913
DOI: 10.1016/j.scico.2022.102913
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2023
Report
Open Access
DESIRA - D3.5 Third set of practice abstracts
Bacco F. M., Ferrari A., Berg M., Schroth C., Rendl C., Marinos-Kouris C., Toli E., Koltsida P., Ortolani L., Lepore F., Townsend L., Hardy C., Fiorentini N., Brunori G.
This document provides DESIRA's third set of practice abstracts (PAs) which is a compilation of seven PAs. Those PAs are based on the experiences, lessons learned, project actions and reporting of the WP3 activities that aimed at the development of scenarios and showcasing of technologies building on the concept of digital game changers. Tasks 3.5 'Use Case development' and 3.6 'Showcase Technologies', are the main contributing project tasks that provided concrete results on which these seven PAs, cited in this report, are based. The first five PAs provide a concise description of five use cases that were developed during the second period of the DESIRA project. An array of conducted activities inside the boundaries of five preselected Living Labs, and with the participation of those LL's stakeholders, were planned so that WP3 could culminate in the development of five technology adoption use cases. The last two PAs of this report, supplement the five aforementioned use case PAs by showcasing two additional promising technology solutions that have the potential to contribute to sustainable digital transition pathways, as those are defined by the DESIRA's theoretical framework and as reflected by the examined agro-rural-forestry settings of this project. For a thorough and detailed analysis of the methodology, activities, and outcomes that contributed to the production of the use cases and showcase technology reports, it is recommended the reading of deliverables D3.3 'Use Cases Report' and D3.4 'Showcase Technology Report' which are the foundation documents on which this deliverable is based on.Source: ISTI Project Report, DESIRA, D3.5, pp.1–19, 2023
Project(s): DESIRA
Bacco F. M., Ferrari A., Berg M., Schroth C., Rendl C., Marinos-Kouris C., Toli E., Koltsida P., Ortolani L., Lepore F., Townsend L., Hardy C., Fiorentini N., Brunori G.
This document provides DESIRA's third set of practice abstracts (PAs) which is a compilation of seven PAs. Those PAs are based on the experiences, lessons learned, project actions and reporting of the WP3 activities that aimed at the development of scenarios and showcasing of technologies building on the concept of digital game changers. Tasks 3.5 'Use Case development' and 3.6 'Showcase Technologies', are the main contributing project tasks that provided concrete results on which these seven PAs, cited in this report, are based. The first five PAs provide a concise description of five use cases that were developed during the second period of the DESIRA project. An array of conducted activities inside the boundaries of five preselected Living Labs, and with the participation of those LL's stakeholders, were planned so that WP3 could culminate in the development of five technology adoption use cases. The last two PAs of this report, supplement the five aforementioned use case PAs by showcasing two additional promising technology solutions that have the potential to contribute to sustainable digital transition pathways, as those are defined by the DESIRA's theoretical framework and as reflected by the examined agro-rural-forestry settings of this project. For a thorough and detailed analysis of the methodology, activities, and outcomes that contributed to the production of the use cases and showcase technology reports, it is recommended the reading of deliverables D3.3 'Use Cases Report' and D3.4 'Showcase Technology Report' which are the foundation documents on which this deliverable is based on.Source: ISTI Project Report, DESIRA, D3.5, pp.1–19, 2023
Project(s): DESIRA
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2023
Report
Unknown
THE D.3.2.1 - AA@THE User needs, technical requirements and specifications
Pratali L., Campana M. G., Delmastro F., Di Martino F., Pescosolido L., Barsocchi P., Broccia G., Ciancia V., Gennaro C., Girolami M., Lagani G., La Rosa D., Latella D., Magrini M., Manca M., Massink M., Mattioli A., Moroni D., Palumbo F., Paradisi P., Paternò F., Santoro C., Sebastiani L., Vairo C.
Deliverable D3.2.1 del progetto PNRR Ecosistemi ed innovazione - THESource: ISTI Project Report, THE, D3.2, 2023
Pratali L., Campana M. G., Delmastro F., Di Martino F., Pescosolido L., Barsocchi P., Broccia G., Ciancia V., Gennaro C., Girolami M., Lagani G., La Rosa D., Latella D., Magrini M., Manca M., Massink M., Mattioli A., Moroni D., Palumbo F., Paradisi P., Paternò F., Santoro C., Sebastiani L., Vairo C.
Deliverable D3.2.1 del progetto PNRR Ecosistemi ed innovazione - THESource: ISTI Project Report, THE, D3.2, 2023
See at: CNR ExploRA
2023
Conference article
Open Access
On bisimilarity for polyhedral models and SLCS
Ciancia V., Gabelaia D., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
The notion of bisimilarity plays an important role in con- currency theory. It provides formal support to the idea of processes hav- ing "equivalent behaviour" and is a powerful tool for model reduction. Furthermore, bisimilarity typically coincides with logical equivalence of an appropriate modal logic enabling model checking to be applied on reduced models. Recently, notions of bisimilarity have been proposed also for models of space, including those based on polyhedra. The latter are central in many domains of application that exploit mesh processing and typically consist of millions of cells, the basic components of face- poset models, discrete representations of polyhedral models. This paper builds on the polyhedral semantics of the Spatial Logic for Closure Spaces (SLCS) for which the geometric spatial model checker PolyLogicA has been developed, that is based on face-poset models. We propose a novel notion of spatial bisimilarity for face-poset models, called ±-bisimilarity. We show that it coincides with logical equivalence induced by SLCS on such models. The latter corresponds to logical equivalence with respect to SLCS on polyhedra which, in turn, coincides with simplicial bisimilarity, a notion of bisimilarity for continuous spaces.Source: DisCoTec 2023 - 43rd IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference, FORTE 2023 Held as Part of the 18th International Federated Conference on Distributed Computing Techniques, pp. 132–151, Lisbon, Portugal, 19-23/06/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-35355-0_9
Metrics:
Ciancia V., Gabelaia D., Latella D., Massink M., De Vink E. P.
The notion of bisimilarity plays an important role in con- currency theory. It provides formal support to the idea of processes hav- ing "equivalent behaviour" and is a powerful tool for model reduction. Furthermore, bisimilarity typically coincides with logical equivalence of an appropriate modal logic enabling model checking to be applied on reduced models. Recently, notions of bisimilarity have been proposed also for models of space, including those based on polyhedra. The latter are central in many domains of application that exploit mesh processing and typically consist of millions of cells, the basic components of face- poset models, discrete representations of polyhedral models. This paper builds on the polyhedral semantics of the Spatial Logic for Closure Spaces (SLCS) for which the geometric spatial model checker PolyLogicA has been developed, that is based on face-poset models. We propose a novel notion of spatial bisimilarity for face-poset models, called ±-bisimilarity. We show that it coincides with logical equivalence induced by SLCS on such models. The latter corresponds to logical equivalence with respect to SLCS on polyhedra which, in turn, coincides with simplicial bisimilarity, a notion of bisimilarity for continuous spaces.Source: DisCoTec 2023 - 43rd IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference, FORTE 2023 Held as Part of the 18th International Federated Conference on Distributed Computing Techniques, pp. 132–151, Lisbon, Portugal, 19-23/06/2023
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-35355-0_9
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