The Design of Requirements Modelling Languages

This book explains in detail how to define requirements modelling languages formal languages used to solve requirement-related problems in requirements engineering. It moves from simple languages to more complicated ones and uses these languages to illustrate a discussion of major topics in requirements modelling language design.

The book positions requirements problem solving within the framework of broader research on ill-structured problem solving in artificial intelligence and engineering in general. Further, it introduces the reader to many complicated issues in requirements modelling language design, starting from trivial questions and the definition of corresponding simple languages used to answer them, and progressing to increasingly complex issues and languages. In this way the reader is led step by step (and with the help of illustrations) to learn about the many challenges involved in designing modelling languages for requirements engineering.

The book offers the first comprehensive treatment of a major challenge in requirements engineering and business analysis, namely, how to design and define requirements modelling languages. It is intended for researchers and graduate students interested in advanced topics of requirements engineering and formal language design.

Ivan Jureta is Chercheur Qualifié (tenured researcher) with Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique -- FNRS in Brussels and Associate Professor with the Department of Business Administration, University of Namur. His research focuses on how to identify and elicit knowledge which human experts apply to solve ill-structured problems, how to engineer ontologies and processes which capture and preserve that knowledge, and how to engineer artificial intelligence which automatically applies that knowledge at a larger scale. As a result he has published numerous papers in the fields of requirements engineering, business analysis and conceptual modelling of information systems (for which he was repeatedly awarded), and serves on various scientific committees. In parallel, Ivan is involved with several startups at CxO level and has held leading roles in product design for web and digital services that today serve more than 500.000 people every day.

1 Requirements Problem Solving.- 2 Problem Solving Automation.- 3 Problem and Solution Concepts.- 4 On Requirements Modelling Languages.- 5 Requirements Problem Solving Cases.- 6 Checklists, Templates, and Services.- 7 Relations.- 8 Guidelines.- 9 Categories.- 10 Valuation.- 11 Uncertainty.- 12 Alternatives.- 13 Constraints.- 14 Preferences.- 15 Links to Formal Logic.