Experimental support analysis of the software construction knowledge area in the SWEBOK guide

In May 2001, trial version of the guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) was released in a Web format and, in December 2001, in book format with the intent to collect comments and possible improvements. Up to now, feedback received confirmed the usefulness of the guide for all documented knowledge areas, with the exception of the software construction knowledge area, for which the content does not map easily to industry practices or to actual academic curricula. We conducted a review of the chapter to identify the level of experimental support for each topic mentioned in this chapter. In order to classify the level of support, the classification in twelve experimental methods for validating technology by Zelkowitz and Wallace is used. It permits the identification of some of its weaknesses and provides further guidance on content improvements of the chapter.