SPEM on test: the SODA case study

In the Software Engineering (SE) research field, several efforts are underway aimed at developing appropriate meta-models for SE methodologies. Meta-models are meant to check and verify both the software development process and the completeness and expressiveness of methodologies.

In this context, in order to provide a uniform way to represent, compare and reuse methodologies, Software Process Engineering Meta-model (SPEM) – an OMG object-oriented standard – is a natural candidate. In order to put the SPEM meta-modelling power to test, and emphasise its benefits and limitations, in this paper we apply SPEM to a more articulated context than the object-oriented one where it was initially conceived—that is, Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies. In particular, we take the SODA methodology as a significant case study in order to assess strengths and limitations of SPEM, given the peculiar SODA focus on the modelling and engineering of (i) social issues and (ii) application environment—essential aspects in the engineering of complex software systems.