Software Development Processes

for Mobile Systems

Is Agile Really Taking Over the Business?
Luis Corral, Alberto Sillitti, Giancarlo Succi
Center for Applied Software Engineering
Faculty of Computer Science
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
May 25, 20!
1st International Workshop on the Engineering of Mobile-Enabled Systems MOBS 201
In conunction with the !"th International Conference on Software Engineering # ICSE $%&!
L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Developin# Mobile Software

!raditional development and "uality framewor#s

offer compre$ensive criteria for conductin eneral-
purpose software pro%ects&

IS' ()*+*, S,ICE, C--i, IS' +((*., &&&

/one of t$em $as 0een developed considerin t$e

conte1t of

-o0ile users

-o0ile e1ecution environments

-o0ile application mar#ets

$
L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Main Approac%es

2$at are t$e processes t$at respond efficiently to

t$e c%allen#es of t$e mo0ile environment&&&

&&&and facilitate t$e development of $i$ "uality products

of t$is domain3

Aile -et$ods, /,4 Enineerin, Spiral and ,lan-

0ased met$odoloies $ave 0een proposed&

!$e ma%ority of t$e met$odoloies s$ow a converent

approac$ 0ased on t$e A#ile %ome #roun& t%emes&

2$at are t$e A#ile'base& met%o&olo#ies t$at $ave

0een proposed for mobile software &evelopment3
L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
A#ile Mobile Development

-o0ile-4 5A0ra$amsson et al&, (**.6

-ASA- 57eon, 8ee and S$in, (**96

:y0rid 5;a$imin and ;amsin, (**96

Scrum 5Sc$arff and <erna, (*+*6

S8eSS 5Cun$a et al, (*++6

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

!$e reviewed Aile-0ased framewor#s deem to suit

t$e needs of t$e mo0ile environment&

8et=s discuss>
i6 !$e suitability of Aile met$ods to fit t$e mo0ile
needs&
ii6 !$e contribution of Aile met$ods to implement
mo0ile products&
iii6 !$e real use of t$e proposed met$odoloies&
iv6 !$e rise of new con&itions t$at c$allene some of
t$e premises upon w$ic$ t$e proposed
met$odoloies were desined&
(ntro&ucin# )ur Discussion

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

-o0ile apps s$ould 0e developed "uic#ly and #eepin

a low price in a competitive mar#et of millions of
potential users and products&

A#ile practices allow a&aptin# processes and

practices to t$e unstea&y nee&s of t$e mo0ile domain&

A#ile met%o&s provide fle*ibility to understand t$e

mar#et, structure t$e product and release it s$ort time
frames&
Are A#ile Met%o&s t%e +est ,it$

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

At t$e level of a0straction presented in t$e papers and

e1perience reports, is $ard to ma#e t$is claim&

Aile practices may suit t$e business nee&s of t$e

mo0ile environment, 0ut fall s$ort on providin an
implementation framewor# for t$e mo0ile product&

Great focus on t%e -w%at., Less focus on t%e -%ow.

(s A#ile (mpactin# t%e ,inal Pro&uct$

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Unfortunately, it is poor"

Field studies attempt to identify evidence on t$e 'Ss,

S4?s, type of applications, but not in t%e
met%o&olo#ies"

!$ey suest a clear trend on s$ortenin t$e

development cycle and 0roaden t$e impact of a
sinle iteration 5related to some Aile principles6
/%at is t%e 0vi&ence of 1se$
Met%o&olo#y 2ear Case Stu&ies Cite& +y
-o0ile-4 (**. +@ +A
-ASA- (**9 * B
:y0rid (**9 * C
Scrum (*+* + .
S8eSS (*++ + +

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

In (**. t$e mo0ile business and development

environment were &ifferent to t$e current one&

A decade of evolution on t$e mo0ile domain 5software,

$ardware and 0usiness models6 $as 0rou$t
sinificant advancements&

!en years ao, concepts li#e App Mar3ets, Location'

+ase& Services, Geolocation, Mobile Software
Development 4its were emerin terms or simply did
not e1ist&
A#ile an& t%e 0volution of t%e Domain

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Still missin a clear lin# 0etween t$e proposed

met$odoloies and t$eir utilization in a production
settin&

4evelopment surveys pay little attention on mo0ile

software development framewor#s&

Open !"estion# The Agile paradig' was really adopted(

dis'issed( or the )usiness created a new one?

!$e evolution of t$e mo0ile environment c$allenes t$e

oriinal association 0etween t$e Aile and mo0ile
software&
Summary

L" Corral, A" Sillitti, G" Succi | Center for Applied Software Enineerin | Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Mobile re5uires A#ility"

8are, o0ese pro%ects will not success in suc$ a

dynamic world 5devices, mar#ets, users, etc&6

Mobile can live wit%out A#ility"

/o silver 0ullet can 0e claimed, any disciplined

development process can 0e $elpful&

8ater approac$es prove t$at Aile falls s$ort on solvin

t$e comple1 needs of t$is $eteroeneous world&
6a3e Away
7uestions$
8uis&CorralDstud-inf&uni0z&it
www&inf&uni0z&itEFlcorralvelaz"uezEmo0ileE
8Luis9Corral
Luis Corral, Alberto Sillitti, Giancarlo Succi
Center for Applied Software Engineering
Faculty of Computer Science
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
May 25, 20!
1st International Workshop on the Engineering of Mobile-Enabled Systems MOBS 201
In conunction with the !"th International Conference on Software Engineering # ICSE $%&!