Abstract
The significance of approaching Web information systems (WIS) from an engineering viewpoint is emphasized. A methodology for deploying patterns as means for improving the quality of WIS as perceived by their stakeholders is presented. In doing so, relevant quality attributes and corresponding stakeholder types are identified. The role of a process, feasibility issues, and the challenges in making optimal use of patterns are pointed out. Examples illustrating the use of patterns during macro- and micro-architecture design of a WIS, with the purpose of the improvement of quality attributes, are given.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Web Engineering: A discipline concerned with the establishment and use of sound scientific, engineering and management principles and disciplined and systematic approaches to the successful development, deployment, and maintenance of high-quality Web Applications.
Quality Model: A set of characteristics and the relationships between them that provide the basis for specifying quality requirements and evaluating quality of an entity.
Software Process: A set of activities, methods, practices, and transformations that are used to develop and maintain software and its associated products.
Semiotics: The field of study of signs and their representations.
Pattern Language: A set of interrelated patterns that forms a gestalt in which each of its patterns collaborate to solve a more fundamental problem that is not explicitly addressed by any individual pattern.
Pattern: A proven solution to a recurring problem in a given context.
Quality: The totality of features and characteristics of a product or a service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.
Agile Development: A philosophy that embraces uncertainty, encourages team communication, values customer satisfaction, vies for early delivery, and promotes sustainable development.