Towards Quantitative Evaluation of Reuse Within Safety-Oriented Process Lines

Abstract

Recently, Safety-oriented Process Line Engineering (SoPLE) has been proposed as a sound solution to systematize reuse in the context of safety-oriented processes described within safety-related standards. Currently, however, no metrics have been used to measure the actual gain in terms of reuse that the application of this engineering method entails. To overcome this lack of quantitative evidence, we adopt the GQM+ Strategies model, an extension of the Goal/Question/Metric (GQM) paradigm, for measurements. After having defined our specific measurement goals, we build on top of existing metrics, defined for measuring product-related reuse, and we translate them in our semantic space to evaluate our goals. We then apply our GQM+ Strategies model on a ECSS-compliant SoPL to illustrate and assess its usefulness.