E/VPL - A System for Modelling and Enacting Software Processes

In recent years, researchers in software engineering field have identified the software development process as a key issue in obtaining higher quality products, improved productivity, more reliable and controllable projects, and other desirable effects. This research addresses the technical issues involved in specifying and mechanically supporting software development processes and is related to the view of processes as “software”, i.e. as a specifiable and executable entity. The definition of process representation notations was pioneered by Osterweil [Osterweil L 1987], who observed that software processes can be programmed as any other software, using textual and graphical techniques. By defining a process programming language in which data and process details can be captured and expressed makes it possible to express software processes with greater clarity and precision than previously possible. Starke [Starke 1993] notes that currently there are about 60 different process description languages in existence, with a large number process support environments developed to support the software process described using these languages.