From Smallest Software Particle to System Specification: MuDForM: Multi-Domain Formalization Method

Software development can be seen as a process in which the knowledge and decisions of a wide variety of people are integrated to produce a machine-readable specification. The majority of today's specification and programming languages are based on computer-oriented and mathematical concepts. Those languages are difficult for people that are not a software professional. Domain models and domain-specific languages are a way to capture knowledge from people who have no software expertise, while also resulting in specifications that can be used as software. This thesis reports on the creation of a domain-oriented method to systematically transform knowledge and decisions of all people involved in a development process, into unambiguous specifications. A systematic literature review revealed that existing domain-oriented techniques have a low engineering maturity, are barely connected to human communication and thinking, and lack methodical support for applying domain models and domain-specific languages to create system specifications. This thesis describes how these three problems are addressed by a method called MuDForM. 25 years of modeling and specification experience was captured in a method definition and gradually improved, driven by the outcome of case studies and shortcomings of existing methods. A reflection on the method from the perspective of cognitive science and linguistics concludes this thesis, demonstrating the feasibility of cognition-based specifications. The result is a method with a uniform metamodel with precise modeling concepts, a process that guides the path from knowledge elicitation to engineered model, and a set of principles that enable implementation and improvement of the method. The method can be seen as a step in transforming a computer-centered and mathematics-oriented discipline, into one that facilitates knowledge and decision specification for all people involved in software development.