Using ontologies in software engineering and technology

Abstract

In this chapter, the state of the art on the use of ontologies in software engineering and technology (SET) is presented. The chapter is organized into four parts. In the second and third sections, serving as a supplement to Chap. 1,29 a wide review of the distinct kinds of ontologies and their proposed uses is presented respectively. In the fourth section, we offer a taxonomy for classifying ontologies in SET, in which two main categories are distinguished: (1) SET domain ontologies, created to represent and communicate agreed knowledge within some subdomain of SET, and (2) ontologies as software artifacts, with proposals in which ontologies play the role of an additional type of artifact in software processes. On the one hand, the former category is subdivided into those ontologies included in software engineering and those referring to other software technologies. On the other hand, the latter category is subdivided into development time and run time proposals according to the moment when ontologies are used. Then, in the last section, we analyze and classify (based on our taxonomy) a large number of recently published works. We also comment on and classify works which will be presented in later chapters of this book. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.