ESSE: an expert system for software evaluation

Solving software evaluation problems is a particularly difficult software e ngineering process and many different-often contradictory-criteria must be considered in order to reach a decision. This paper presents ESSE, a protot ype expert system for software evaluation that embodies various aspects of the Multiple-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methodology. Its main features ar e the flexibility in problem modeling and the built-in knowledge about soft ware problem solving and software attribute assessment. Evaluation problems are modeled around top-level software attributes, such as quality and cost . Expert assistants guide the evaluator in feeding values to the decision m odel. ESSE covers all important dimensions of software evaluation through t he integration of different technologies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.