Evaluating the Impact of UML Modeling on Software Quality: An Industrial Case Study

The contribution of formal modeling approaches in software development has always been a subject of debates. The proponents of model-driven development argue that big upfront designs although require substantial investment will payoff later in the implementation phase in terms of increased productivity and quality. On the other hand, software engineers who are not very keen on modeling perceive the activity as simply a waste of time and money without any real contribution to the final software product. Considering present advancement of model-based software development in software industry, we are challenged to investigate the real contribution of modeling in software development. Therefore, in this paper we report on an empirical investigation on the impact of UML modeling on the quality of software system. In particular, we focus on defect density as a measure of software quality. Based on a significant industrial case study, we have found that the use of UML modeling potentially reduces defect density in software system.

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