Enhancing a Rigorous Reuse Process with Natural Language Requirement Specifications

Abstract

Reusability is the ability to use the same software elements for constructing many different applications. Formal specifications can help to semiautomatic design processes based on reusable components. However, during the first stages of development, when the interaction with the stakeholders is crucial, the use of client-oriented requirements engineering techniques seems to be necessary in order to enhance the communication between the stakeholders and the software engineers. In this chapter, we propose a systematic reuse approach that integrates natural language requirement specifications with formal specifications in RSL (RAISE Specification Language). On the one hand, some heuristics are described to develop a formal specification in RSL starting from models belonging to the Requirements Baseline. On the other hand, we have defined a reusable component model that integrates RSL specifications at different levels of abstraction, as well as presented a process with reuse based on the model.