CONFERENCE EVALUATION REPORT

Transcription

1 CONFERENCE EVALUATION REPORT ABOUT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AUTOMATION Efficient construction and maintenance of software is becoming increasingly important. Software has to evolve continuously in order to satisfy its users. It is becoming like a living organism, where CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT. Automating software development is a potential answer to this challenge. The main purpose of this conference is to share experiences with the automation of software development using modeldriven development (MDD), domain-specific languages (DSLs), code generators and language workbenches. Not only technical issues are addressed, but also organizational and commercial aspects. Many tools exist for model-driven development. These are evolving towards complete language workbenches, for rapid development of domain specific languages and code generators. Next to these, one can also find out-of-the-box model-driven solutions for business automation. All of these tools were addressed and discussed at SDA2013. CONTACT Our web site: Our address: sdaconf2013@languageworkbenches.net

2 INTRODUCTION Software Development Automation 2013 took place on 29 May 2013 in Amsterdam. After the conference all participants were asked to fill in an on-line evaluation form. Below we analyze the results from this evaluation. PARTICIPANTS The conference had 92 registered participants, 85 if we exclude the conference organizers. 38 people took the effort to fill in the evaluation form, which is a response of 45%. About half of the respondents consider themselves Software Architect (26%) or Software Engineer (24%). Of the remaining half, the large percentage of Managers (16%) jumps out. 5% 3% 3% 3% Function 8% 24% 3% 16% Analyst Business Architect Business Developer Consultant Developer Manager Other Professor Scientist Software Architect Software Engineer Student 5% 3% 3% 26% The majority of the participants are from organizations that are already using model-driven development (45%) or are looking into it (18%). About a quarter of the participants are from tool vendors (21%) or consultants (5%). 18% Classification of organization 11% 5% 21% Looking into or experimenting with automated / model-driven software development Using automated / model-driven software development in software production Consulting on automated / modeldriven software development Vendor of tools for automated / model-driven software development Research institute 45%

3 EVALUATION OF CONFERENCE PROGRAMME Overall the respondents rated the conference as good to excellent, resulting in an average rating of 7.5. More than 60% indicated they would come again and the rest that they would come again if the program was interesting enough. No one indicated they would not come again. What was your general impression of the conference? Poor 0 0% Ok 13 34% Good 21 55% Excellent 4 11% Would you come again? Yes, if I can 23 61% Maybe, depends on the program 15 39% No 0 0% The conference program was also rated as good to excellent by the majority, also resulting in an average rating of 7.5. The keynote by Markus Voelter was rated as 8.6, despite one individual who thought it was a poor presentation. What was your overall impression of the conference program? Poor 0 0% Ok 14 37% Good 20 53% Excellent 4 11% What did you think of the keynote speech by Markus Voelter? Poor 1 3% Ok 5 14% Good 13 35% Excellent 18 49%

4 Presentations were not rated by the participants, but we asked them to indicate which was their favorite, second favorite and third favorite talk. We gave presenters three points for a first, two points for a second and one point for a third favorite rating. In the graph below, we show the cumulative points for each presentation. The presentation by Jeanot Bijpost was listed most as most favorite talk and consequently got most points. The presentation by Wim Bast was listed second best by many people, yielding him a second place in the ranking, eventhough only one person thought this was the best presentation. Looking only at the most favorite talks, Arjan Mooij, Tijs van der Storm, Jeroen van den Bos, Jos Warmer and Graham Bolton share the second place. Each of them was selected four times as the most favorite presentation. Software quality, speed and predictability with MDD using ASD at Ericsson, Ard-Jan Moerdijk (Verum) How to tap into the MDD potential? Conditions for success, Andriy Levytskyy (Zest) Renovating a 15-year old Model-Driven Application, Eric Jan Malotaux (Ordina) Models sell, Jim van Dam (Billinghouse) Towards a single point of definition: Isolating and Organising Facts, Patterns and Artifacts, Graham Bolton (IfSQ) A DSL to Support Building Multi-Platform Native Apps for Mobile Devices, Jos Warmer (Open Modeling) A DSL for digital forensics: from inception to production, Jeroen van den Bos (NFI) Software Development Automation Research: Collaboration with Industry, Tijs van der Storm (CWI) Model-driven software development as guerilla warfare, Meinte Boersma (DSL Consultancy) Model-driven development for code generation and early validation, Arjan Mooij (TNO-ESI) The forest and the trees, Wim Bast (Modeling Value Group) Case Study: Using MDD to build the Dutch Citizen Records Database, Jeanot Bijpost (Mattic) Presentation first second third rating Case Study: Using MDD to build the Dutch Citizen Records Database, Jeanot Bijpost (Mattic) The forest and the trees, Wim Bast (Modeling Value Group) Model-driven development for code generation and early validation, Arjan Mooij (TNO-ESI) Model-driven software development as guerilla warfare, Meinte Boersma (DSL Consultancy) Software Development Automation Research: Collaboration with Industry, Tijs van der Storm (C A DSL for digital forensics: from inception to production, Jeroen van den Bos (NFI) A DSL to Support Building Multi-Platform Native Apps for Mobile Devices, Jos Warmer (Open M Towards a single point of definition: Isolating and Organising Facts, Patterns and Artifacts, Gra Models sell, Jim van Dam (Billinghouse) Renovating a 15-year old Model-Driven Application, Eric Jan Malotaux (Ordina) How to tap into the MDD potential? Conditions for success, Andriy Levytskyy (Zest) 1 3 Software quality, speed and predictability with MDD using ASD at Ericsson, Ard-Jan Moerdijk (V 1 3 Most participants also attended one or both of the sponsor presentations during the lunch break. Did you attend the sponsor presentations? Yes, both 14 37% Yes, the one by Mendix 4 11% Yes, the one by OutSystems 6 16% No 14 37%

5 Some qualitative feedback from the respondents: Which topic did you miss or would you like to have more emphasis next time? Wrap up at the end Creating a shared roadmap to promoto MDD/MDM (model driven maintenance) how to start MDD from scratch for a running project DSL patterns Code Generation practical how-to start with this in an organization. Business rule generation Good outline of the USPs. Business/MDE gap and how to bridge it something hands-on creating good models Integration of models throughout the development lifecycle n/a MDA how io integrate MDA in the development process together with the usage of rule engines model versioning, verification & validation Hands-on and structural collaboration to introduce and keep MDD to/in industry Any other remarks on the conference program: "Thanks for the excellent day! Good content and a good opportunity to meet people in the field, especially since this event also attracts other people than the ones at codegen 2013." It would be great to get a folder with writing materials and maybe even a handout of the presentations. Most of the sessions discussed the same subject and didn't have enough depth. For someone with experience in the field of MDD, there wasn't much new information (except the keynote speech). The venue was too small for all participants Good atmosphere, good food, good job! "Nice group of people interested in model-driven development in general, and DSLs in particular. What would be the intended relation to events like the model-driven development days? The regular talks were very diverse. Unfortunately I got the impression of a lot of trees, without seeing the bigger forest. More focused sessions could be helpful." Youtube videos of the presentations would be PERFECT! Good initiative! Good work. Thanks for arranging the conference!

6 EVALUATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS How did you find out about the conference? Mailing from the organization 7 18% Personal invitation from one of the organizers 13 34% LinkedIn 1 3% Twitter 0 0% Facebook 0 0% Via a sponsor 1 3% Via a colleague 13 34% Via the media (Computable, Automatiseringsgids) 0 0% Internet search (Google, Bing) 3 8% How would you rate the following aspects? Website ( Poor 8 21% Ok 13 34% Good 17 45% Excellent 0 0% Online registration process (EventBrite) Poor 1 3% Ok 6 16% Good 27 73% Excellent 3 8%

7 Location (Amsterdam Science Park) Poor 1 3% Ok 7 18% Good 22 58% Excellent 8 21% Conference rooms and facilities at CWI Poor 2 5% Ok 12 32% Good 20 53% Excellent 4 11% Catering Poor 0 0% Ok 11 29% Good 24 63% Excellent 3 8% How do you appreciate the sponsors? Really valuable addition to the conference 7 19% Interesting to see what they have on offer 22 59% Not interested, but their presence doesn't disturb me either 8 22% I am willing to pay more to have a sponsor-free event 0 0%

8 THE FUTURE OF SDA What do you think of the conference name? Appropriate (I immediately understood what it was about) 32 84% Confusing (I thought it was about something else) 5 13% Not quite right (I can think of a better name) 1 3% There were no suggestions for a better name. How often would you like to have such an event? 3-4 times per year 0 0% 2 times per year 3 8% Once per year 30 79% No need for a regular event on automated / model-driven software development in the Netherlands 0 0% Once per two years 5 13%

9 What would be the best time for such an event? May is fine 17 45% Earlier in the year 3 8% June would be better 1 3% During the summer (July - August) 0 0% During the fall (September - November) 2 5% I don't care 15 39% Any other suggestions for a future event: It would be great to have the keynote speaker tell about how the field in general evolved. Marcus had a great and in-depth presentation, but it is clear that the MDD field has a lot of separate aspects and is not homogenous at all. Especially when this event will occur more regularly it will be essential to have more cohesion. This is first event was good for what it is though. "Better route planning and location map to be send with the registration confirmation. Important to have for the future: a toll free parking location. " something hands-on Don't get your date so close to Codegen conference, for some people it might be too much at once (might also be harder for people at companies to get an education day away from work).

10 ORGANIZATION SDA2013 was organized and programmed on a personal title by the following individuals with administrative support from CWI: Wim Bast Meinte Boersma Angelo Hulshout Eric Jan Malotaux Maarten Steen Tijs van der Storm Jos Warmer SPONSORS SDA2013 received sponsoring from the following twelve organizations: Mendix OutSystems Aquima CWI emagiz Verum TM7 AG5 Delphino Consultancy itemis Modeling Value Group OpenModeling