Resources

Since their inception some 30 years ago, use cases have been used to identify, organize, synthesize and clarify system requirements for organizations across the globe. In most recent years, they have been used in techniques such as user stories. Use-Case 2.0 is the new generation of use-case driven development – light, agile and lean – inspired by user stories, Scrum and Kanban. Although they are much more agile and lean, they still embody the same popular values from the past while expanding to architecture, design, test, user experience, and also instrumental in business modeling and software reuse. But, for the adoption of use cases to be seamless, there should be a balance of principles applied.

SEMAT (Software Engineering Methods and Theory) is an international initiative designed to identify a common ground, or universal standard, for software engineering. It is supported by some of the most distinguished contributors to the field. Creating a simple language to describe methods and practices, the SEMAT team expresses this common ground as a kernel–or framework–of elements essential to all software development. The Essence of Software Engineering introduces this kernel and shows how to apply it when developing software and communicating among teams and team members. It is a book for software professionals, not methodologists. Its usefulness to developers, who need to evaluate and choose the best practices for their particular projects, goes well beyond the description or application of any single methodology.

In today's ever more competitive world, boards of directors and executives demand that CIOs and their teams deliver "more with less." Studies show, without any real surprise, that there is no one-size-fits-all method to suit all software initiatives. The SEMAT movement has an answer.

The Object Management Group® (OMG®), an international, open membership, not-for-profit technology standards consortium, released a new case study detailing Munich RE's successful application of the Essence standard with guidance provided from Ivar Jacobson International (IJI).

The term paradigm shift may be a bit overused these days; nevertheless, the kernel-based Essence approach to software engineering can quite reasonably be considered to be such a shift. It truly represents a profound change of viewpoint for the software-engineering community. In this paper, Ivar Jacobon and Ed Seidewitz explore what happened to to the promise of rigorous, disciplined, professional practices for software development, like those observed in other engineering disciplines and explain how the Essence standard is the answer.

Use-Case 2.0 re-focuses on the essentials and offers a slimmed down, leaner way of working, for software teams seeking the benefits of iterative, incremental development at an enterprise level.

Combining agile and SEMAT yields more advantages than either one alone. This paper discusses how two current popular movements complement one another to provide a powerful basis for software development.

In the same way that Google map shows you where you are, where you want to go, and the best way to get there when making a journey, SEMAT and Essence can do the same for teams of engineers developing software.

Ben LInders interviews Ivar Jacobson and Ian Spence on the use of SEMAT within agile adoption. Published on InfoQ.