Developing secure software requires the integration of numerous methods and tools into the development process, and software design is based on shared expert knowledge, claims, and opinions. Empirical methods, including data analytics, allow extracting knowledge and insights from the data that organizations collect from their processes and tools, and from the opinions of the experts who practice these processes and methods. This book introduces the reader to the fundamentals of empirical research methods, and demonstrates how these methods can be used to hone a secure software development lifecycle based on empirical data and published best practices.

Empirical research has now become an essential component of software engineering yet software practitioners and researchers often lack an understanding of how the empirical procedures and practices are applied in the field. Empirical Research in Software Engineering: Concepts, Analysis, and Applications shows how to implement empirical research pro

This book presents contemporary empirical methods in software engineering related to the plurality of research methodologies, human factors, data collection and processing, aggregation and synthesis of evidence, and impact of software engineering research. The individual chapters discuss methods that impact the current evolution of empirical software engineering and form the backbone of future research. Following an introductory chapter that outlines the background of and developments in empirical software engineering over the last 50 years and provides an overview of the subsequent contributions, the remainder of the book is divided into four parts: Study Strategies (including e.g. guidelines for surveys or design science); Data Collection, Production, and Analysis (highlighting approaches from e.g. data science, biometric measurement, and simulation-based studies); Knowledge Acquisition and Aggregation (highlighting literature research, threats to validity, and evidence aggregation); and Knowledge Transfer (discussing open science and knowledge transfer with industry). Empirical methods like experimentation have become a powerful means of advancing the field of software engineering by providing scientific evidence on software development, operation, and maintenance, but also by supporting practitioners in their decision-making and learning processes. Thus the book is equally suitable for academics aiming to expand the field and for industrial researchers and practitioners looking for novel ways to check the validity of their assumptions and experiences. Chapter 17 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Software development continues to be an ever-evolving field as organizations require new and innovative programs that can be implemented to make processes more efficient, productive, and cost-effective. Agile practices particularly have shown great benefits for improving the effectiveness of software development and its maintenance due to their ability to adapt to change. It is integral to remain up to date with the most emerging tactics and techniques involved in the development of new and innovative software. The Research Anthology on Agile Software, Software Development, and Testing is a comprehensive resource on the emerging trends of software development and testing. This text discusses the newest developments in agile software and its usage spanning multiple industries. Featuring a collection of insights from diverse authors, this research anthology offers international perspectives on agile software. Covering topics such as global software engineering, knowledge management, and product development, this comprehensive resource is valuable to software developers, software engineers, computer engineers, IT directors, students, managers, faculty, researchers, and academicians.

Quality of Protection: Security Measurements and Metrics is an edited volume based on the Quality of Protection Workshop in Milano, Italy (September 2005). This volume discusses how security research can progress towards quality of protection in security comparable to quality of service in networking and software measurements, and metrics in empirical software engineering. Information security in the business setting has matured in the last few decades. Standards such as IS017799, the Common Criteria (ISO15408), and a number of industry certifications and risk analysis methodologies have raised the bar for good security solutions from a business perspective. Designed for a professional audience composed of researchers and practitioners in industry, Quality of Protection: Security Measurements and Metrics is also suitable for advanced-level students in computer science.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, PROFES 2020, held in Turin, Italy, in November 2020. Due to COVID-19 pandemic the conference was held virtually. The 19 revised full papers and 3 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 68 submissions. The papers cover a broad range of topics related to professional software development and process improvement driven by product and service quality needs. They are organized in topical sections on Agile Software Development.

This book is open access under a CC BY license. The volume constitutes the proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2017, held in Cologne, Germany, in May 2017. The 14 full and 6 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 46 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: improving agile processes; agile in organization; and safety critical software. In addition, the volume contains 3 doctoral symposium papers (from 4 papers submitted).