To make any process successful it has to be controlled in a way that it achieves its predefined goals or we can say it should be guided along the path of success. This fact holds good for any type of process in this world and so does for the processes in the field of software engineering.
In the field of software engineering, two approaches have been identified for keeping a control over the development and other related processes namely:
1. The empirical process control method and
2. The defined process control method.
In this article the above mentioned two approaches have been compared so that you get a better understanding of both the programs. So let us see how these two approaches control the processes.
The Empirical Process Control Method
- The empirical process control model was defined to exercise or control the process via following some frequent adaptations as well as frequent inspections.
- These inspections and the adaptations both are meant for the generation of the unpredictable and unrepeatable outcomes or results and can be thought of as being imperfectly designed.
- Since for the past many years the various software development methodologies have been known to be controlled by the latter approach i.e., the defined process control method.
- But we all know that every time a certain same output or outcome cannot be expected from the software development processes.
- Therefore, most of the agile software development methodologies are controlled by the empirical process control model and the most famous example being that of the “scrum” agile software development methodology.
- The term empirical process control model itself justifies as the term empirical means the information acquired by the means of experimentation and observation.
- Here the information is achieved by means of inspection and adaptations which serve as a means for the observation and experimentation.
- The process of the empirical control is constituted of a continuous cycle of adaptation of the process as per the requirements and inspection of the process for correct working.
- The empirical control process model has three pillars as we can make out from the definition of the process control model without which it cannot be called as the empirical process control method:
1. Transparency
2. Inspection and
3. Adaptation.
- The first pillar i.e., transparency indicates that the outcomes of the affects of the empirical process control model and the aspects affecting the outcomes should be visible to the programmers and developers who are responsible for controlling the whole process.
- The second pillar i.e., the inspection indicates that all the aspects of the control process should be monitored quite frequently to enable the fast and early detection of the unacceptable variances.
- The third pillar i.e., the adaptation indicates the adjustment of one or more aspects as required of the control process if the software system or application being processed is observed to lie outside the acceptable limits implying that the result will also be unacceptable.
- The defined process control model approach is adopted when the underlying mechanisms of the software system or application are well understood by the programmers and the developers.
The Defined Process Control Model
- The defined process control model can be thought of as a theoretical approach.
- When a well defined set of inputs is given, it is obvious that the same outcomes will be generated every time the program executes.
- With the well understood technologies and stable requirements, one can very well predict a whole software project.
- Even nowadays the empirical process control model holds as the essence of the agile software development processes.
- Empirical process holds good for the complex development processes which encounter difficulty in the production of repetitive outcomes.
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