Assessing process-centered software engineering environments

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Abstract
Process-centered software engineering environments (PSEEs) are the most recent generation of environments supporting software development activities. They exploit an representation of the process (called the process model that specifies how to carry out software development activities, the roles and tasks of software developers, and how to use and control software development tools. A process model is therefore a vehicle to better understand and communicate the process. If it is expressed in a formal notation, it can be used to support a variety of activities such as process analysis, process simulation, and process enactment. PSEEs provide automatic support for these activities. They exploit languages based on different paradigms, such as Petri nets and rule-based systems. They include facilities to edit and analyze process models. By enacting the process model, a PSEE provides a variety of services, such as assistance for software developers, automation of routine tasks, invocation and control of software development tools, and enforcement of mandatory rules and practices. Several PSEEs have been developed, both as research projects and as commercial products. The initial deployment and exploitation of this technology have made it possible to produce a significant amount of experiences, comments, evaluations, and feedback. We still lack, however, consistent and comprehensive assessment methods that can be used to collect and organize this information. This article aims at contributing to the definition of such methods, by providing a systematic comparison grid and by accomplishing an initial evaluation of the state of the art in the field. This evaluation takes into account the systems that have been developed by the authors in the past five years, as well as the main characteristics of other well-known environments

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