Coordinated software development: A framework for reasoning about trace links in software systems

Traceability is an important factor in the success of software projects. However, achieving software traceability has proven to be costly. In this paper, we provide a root cause analysis of the cost problems in conventional traceability approaches. Based on this analysis, we propose technical criteria for a more affordable solution to the traceability problem. We then present a new framework for achieving traceability that satisfies the proposed criteria. Our approach uses coordinated software development as an enabling mechanism to support reasoning about trace links in software systems. Early evaluation of our approach shows encouraging results.