Four dark corners of requirements engineering

TLDR

Requirements engineering has a large knowledge base, yet four foundational areas remain weak or unclear. The article illuminates these four weak areas by identifying problems and suggesting solutions. The authors conclude that requirements engineering must describe the environment, incorporate essential control information, and tightly link domain knowledge to refinement, thereby defining the precise nature of requirements, specifications, and domain knowledge, setting minimum standards for a requirements language, and clarifying what constitutes successful completion.

Abstract

Research in requirements engineering has produced an extensive body of knowledge, but there are four areas in which the foundation of the discipline seems weak or obscure. This article shines some light in the “four dark corners,” exposing problems and proposing solutions. We show that all descriptions involved in requirements engineering should be descriptions of the environment. We show that certain control information is necessary for sound requirements engineering, and we explain the close association between domain knowledge and refinement of requirements. Together these conclusions explain the precise nature of requirements, specifications, and domain knowledge, as well as the precise nature of the relationships among them. They establish minimum standards for what information should be represented in a requirements language. They also make it possible to determine exactly what it means for requirements and engineering to be successfully completed.