A Guide to Identifying and Measuring Technical Debt Requirements in Software Development

• Ana Carolina Candido de Melo University of Pernambuco http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4608-0651
• Roberta Andrade de A. Fagundes University of Pernambuco
• Wylliams B. Santos University of Pernambuco

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/cbsoft_estendido.2020.14603

Abstract

Context: Technical Debt (TD) describes the consequences that software projects face during their development, often caused when tasks are not performed properly. Initially, TD had a focus on coding activities, but in the progress of investigations, the concept was expanded in other phases of software development, for example, in requirements engineering. Problem: The requirements TD is related to the distance between the ideal value of the requirements specification and the actual implementation of the system, which are consequences of strategic decisions for immediate gains, or unintended changes in the context. Regardless, it is necessary to keep it managed to ensure the evolution of the software. Identification and measurement are the first two stages of the management process, however, in requirements engineering, they are still little explored in academic research. Objective: In this context, the main objective of this work is to develop a guide that can help software professionals to identify and measure the TD of existing requirements in their projects. Methodology: For this, the research is being developed through four stages. The first referring to the collection of evidence aims to identify the information that will be made available in the guide. The second refers to the development of the proposal, in which the information previously identified will be analyzed so that the guide can be developed next. In the third stage regarding validation, the guide will be evaluated by specialists in the field. Finally, in the fourth stage of analysis and conclusion, considerations and results on the effectiveness of the guide will be presented. Results: As partial results, causes that cause the appearance of the TD of requirements have already been identified; existing strategies to assist in the identification and measurement; metrics used in the measurement step; as well as difficulties pointed out when carrying out these activities.

Keywords: Technical Debt Requirements, Identification, Measurement

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