The use of no-code editors makes developing web applications more accessible since they are based on Graphical User Interface elements instead of conventional programming languages. This allows users without previous programming experience to design web-application interfaces. However, designing web applications with no-code editors can be a daunting process for beginners without design experience. This study therefore investigates which aspects of no-code editors can support novice designers when designing aesthetically pleasing web-application layouts. A usability analysis of three state-of-the-art no-code editors was conducted using the Cognitive Dimensions of Notations framework. The main aspect that impacted usability in the no-code editors was a difficulty aligning and positioning elements due to hidden dependencies and unforeseen actions. Based on this finding, a prototype was developed to address these issues. The prototype introduced the concept of a "Golden Ratio Guide", a visual guide intended to support the alignment and positioning of elements. A user study was conducted with inexperienced designers (n=5) to test if the Golden Ratio Guide helps with designing aesthetic web-application layouts. Contrary to expectations, a survey with users of such web-applications (n=36) showed that the web-layouts designed without the Golden Ratio Guide were preferred. / Att använda sig av programmeringsfria redigeringsprogram för att utveckla webbapplikationer bidrar till en större tillgänglighet då de är baserade på grafiska användargränssnittselement istället för konventionella programmeringsspråk. Detta tillåter användare utan tidigare programmeringserfarenhet att designa webbapplikationsgränssnitt. Men att designa webbapplikationer i ett programmeringsfritt redigeringsprogram kan vara en skrämmande process för nybörjare utan designerfarenhet. Denna studie undersöker därför vilka aspekter av programmeringsfria redigeringsprogram som stödjer nybörjare med att designa estetiskt tilltalande layouter för webbapplikationer. En användbarhetsanalys av tre programmeringsfria redigeringsprogram relevanta inom fältet genomfördes med hjälp av ramverket Cognitive Dimensions of Notations. Den huvudsakliga aspekten som påverkade användbarheten i programmeringsfria redigeringsprogram var svårigheten att anpassa och placera element på grund av dolda beroenden och oförutsedda händelser. Baserat på denna upptäckt utvecklades en prototyp för att lösa dessa problem. Prototypen introducerade konceptet med en "Gyllene Snittet Guide", en visuell guide avsedd att stödja anpassning och positionering. En användarstudie genomfördes med oerfarna designers (n=5) för att testa om guiden baserad på det Gyllene Snittet hjälper med att designa estetiska layouter för webbapplikationer. Tvärtemot förväntningarna visade en undersökning med användare av dessa webbapplikationer (n=36) att webblayouterna som designats utan guiden baserad på det Gyllene Snittet föredrogs.

Quality assurance and software testing of software artifacts is as important as ever and this is especially so the case in web applications. The web applications of today are more complex and are used in more critical systems at a larger scale than ever before. However, testing of these applications is very challenging due to their dynamic nature. It is somewhat challenging to find clear and up-to-date guidelines on how to implement and evaluate regression software testing in small and medium-size enterprises (SME’s) developing web applications. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the problem at hand and propose an approach to implementing software regression testing in web applications for SME’s. That is, recommending what to test, recommending what kind of software testing could be implemented and using what state of the art front end testing frameworks. An in-depth literature study was conducted to see what had been done in the past and present. Two rounds of semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted with software developers at the company where this thesis was conducted. The main purpose of the first interview was to find business goals from which to derive and subsequently create a testing suite in four different testing frameworks; Cypress, Jest, Playwright and Vitest. The purpose of the second interview was to evaluate and compare the aforementioned testing suites in order to propose an approach on software testing in web applications. In addition, code coverage and mutation scoring was also considered when evaluating the testing suites. The findings of this thesis is that a reasonable approach of introducing software testing into an SME which develops a web application, is to use business requirements for generating test cases and prioritizing end-to-end testing since the perceived benefits of the latter in this thesis far outweigh the benefits of the component testing suites although a combination of both would be the best of both worlds. Although this thesis was conducted on a web application written in React, the findings and recommendations can be applied to any front end framework such as Angular or Vue. / Kvalitetssäkring och testning av mjukvara är lika viktigt som alltid och detta är i synnerhet även fallet i webbapplikationer. Dagens webbapplikationer är mer komplexa och används i mer kritiska system på en större skala än någonsin tidigare. Dessvärre är det svårt att testa dessa applikationer eftersom att de är dynamiska. Det är svårt att hitta riktlinjer för hur man ska implementera och utvärdera regressionstester på små och medelstora företag (SMF) som utvecklar webbapplikationer. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka problemet och föreslå en riktlinje för hur man kan implementera regressionstestning i SMF och i webbapplikationer. Detta innebär att föreslå vad man kan testa, vilken form av mjukvarutestning man kan implementera och med vilka moderna testningsramverk man kan göra detta med. En ingående litteraturstudie genomfördes för att ta reda på vad som hade gjorts tidigare inom området. Två rundor av semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med mjukvaruutvecklarna på företaget där uppsatsen genomfördes. Syftet med den första intervjun var att hitta företagsmål som sedan agerade grund till testningssviter i fyra olika ramverk; Cypress, Jest, Playwright och Vitest. Syftet med den andra intervjun var att utvärdera och jämföra dessa testsviter för att rekommendera ett tillvägagångssätt för att implementera mjukvarutestning i webbapplikationer. Utöver intervjuerna så bidrog mutationspoäng och kodtäckning till rekommendationerna. Uppsatsen finner att ett rimligt sätt att implementera regressionstester i ett SMF och en webbapplikation är att generera testfall utifrån affärskrav och att prioritera testning på användarnivå eftersom att fördelarna från denna nivå av testning överväger fördelarna från komponenttestning. Allra helst bör man implementera en kombination av båda nivåerna. Fastän denna uppsats undersökte en webbapplikation i React så kan dessa upptäckter och rekommendationer även tillämpas på vilket frontendramverk som helst så som exempelvis Angular eller Vue.

Mobile platform fragmentation is one of the main challenges of mobile development today, forcing developers to develop one application for each targeted platform, which significantly impacts time and cost for application development and maintenance. The fragmentation has given rise to cross-platform application development tools and frameworks, making it possible to develop one single application compatible with several platforms. This thesis focuses on the web-based approach Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), which, in contrast to previous approaches, targets both mobile and desktop devices. We aim to point out the supported features, evaluate their suitability for QR code scanning, and their performance compared to alternative approaches on iOS. We specifically cover a feature set of 33 features and measure response times, CPU and memory utilization, geolocation accuracy, and QR code scanning correctness. We developed three benchmark artifacts for the performance analysis: a PWA, a React Native application, and a native iOS application, and conducted automated run-time experiments using the tools Xcode and XCUITest. The performance evaluation shows that native applications performed best in memory and CPU utilization, whereas React Native achieved the shortest response times. The feature evaluation shows that the majority of the features are supported or partially supported for PWAs, and that the support continues to grow. Still, PWAs lack support for crucial mobile features such as push notifications and background synchronization, making PWAs insufficient for advanced mobile application development on iOS. Nevertheless, this study shows that PWAs are well worth considering for applications with low requirements. / Fragmentering av mobilplattformar är en av de största utmaningarna inom mobilutveckling, vilket tvingar utvecklare att utveckla en applikation för varje specific plattform, vilket avsevärt påverkar tid och kostnad för applikationsutveckling och underhåll. Fragmenteringen har gett upphov till plattformsoberoende applikationsutvecklingsverktyg och ramverk, vilka möjliggör utveckling av en enda applikation kompatibel med flertalet plattformar. Det här examensarbetet fokuserar på det webbaserade tillvägagångssättet Progressiva Webb Applikationers (PWAs), som till skillnad från tidigare tillvägagångssätt, riktar sig till både mobila och stationära enheter. Den här studien syftar till att reda ut vilka funktioner som stöds av PWAs, utvärdera PWAs lämplighet för QR-kodskanning och deras prestanda jämfört med alternativa tillvägagångssätt på iOS. Mer specifikt täcker den här stiduen en evaluering av 33 essentiella mobilfunktioner samt en prestandaanalys genom mätning av svarstid, CPU- och minnesanvändning, geolokaliseringsnoggrannhet och QR-kodsskanning korrekthet. Vi utvecklade tre benchmark-artefakter för prestandaanalysen: en PWA, en React Native-applikation och en inbyggd iOS-applikation, och genomförde automatiserade experiment med verktygen Xcode och XCUITest. Prestandautvärderingen visar att inbyggda applikationer presterade bäst i minne och CPU-användning, medan React Native uppnådde de kortaste svarstiderna. Funktionsutvärderingen visar att majoriteten av funktionerna stöds eller delvis stöds för PWAs, och att stödet fortsätter att växa. Ändå saknar PWAs stöd för viktiga mobila funktioner som push-meddelanden och bakgrundssynkronisering, vilket gör PWAs otillräckliga för utveckling av avancerade iOS mobilapplikationer. Däremot är PWAs väl värda att överväga för applikationer med lägre krav.

[pt] Contexto: Exceções não tratadas afetam a confiabilidade, usabilidade e segurança em aplicações web. Diversos estudos mediram a confiabilidade de aplicações web em uso em relação a exceções não tratadas, mostrando a recorrência deste problema durante a fase de manutenção. Detectar exceções não tratadas latentes de forma automatizada é uma tarefa difícil e específica de cada aplicação. Assim, abordagens gerais para tratar defeitos em aplicações web não tratam exceções não tratadas latentes apropriadamente. Objetivos: Projetar e avaliar um método que possa suportar encontrar, corrigir e prevenir exceções não tratadas em aplicações web. Método: Nós aplicamos o ciclo de engenharia do design science para projetar o método chamada Manutenção Orientada a Padrões (PDM). PDM consiste em identificar padrões de defeitos se baseando nos logs do servidor de aplicação, produzindo regras de análise estática que podem ser utilizadas para a prevenção de defeitos. Nós aplicamos PDM em duas aplicações web na indústria envolvendo empresas e tecnologias diferentes, medindo a melhoria confiabilidade das aplicações e a precisão das regras de análise estática produzidas. Nós também avaliamos o reuso das regras de análise estática produzidas durante a aplicação do PDM em software da mesma empresa e de outras empresas. Finalmente, nós estudamos a eficácia e aceitação de mantenedores novatos aplicando o método PDM. Resultados: Nos dois casos industriais, nossa abordagem permitiu a identificação de padrões de defeitos e exceções não tratadas latentes para correção no código fonte, permitindo eliminar completamente as falhas relacionadas a exceções não tratadas latentes e melhorando assim a confiabilidade da aplicação. Algumas regras de análise estática produzidas pela aplicação do método PDM foram reutilizadas em software na mesma empresa e em outra empresa. Nós identificamos os conhecimentos e experiências que influenciam em aplicar os passos do método PDM de forma eficaz. A maior parte dos mantenedores novatos acharam o método PDM útil, mas não fácil de aplicar, dificultando a aceitação do método entre novatos. Conclusões: Os resultados fortalecem nossa confiança que o PDM pode ajudar os mantenedores a melhorar a confiabilidade em relação a exceções não tradadas em aplicações web existentes. Nós disponibilizamos orientações sobre como utilizar o método, reutilizar as regras de análise estática produzidas, e quais conhecimentos e experiências são necessárias para aplicar o PDM com eficácia. / [en] Background: Unhandled exceptions affect the reliability, usability, and security of web applications. Several studies have measured the reliability of web applications in use against unhandled exceptions, showing a recurrence of the problem during the maintenance phase. Detecting automatically unhandled latent exceptions is difficult and application-specific. Hence, general approaches to deal with defects in web applications do not treat unhandled exceptions appropriately. Aims: To design and evaluate a method that can support finding, correcting, and preventing unhandled exceptions in web applications. Method: We applied the design science engineering cycle to design a method called Pattern-Driven Maintenance (PDM). PDM relies on identifying defect patterns based on application server logs and producing static analysis rules that can be used for prevention. We applied PDM to two industrial web applications involving different companies and technologies, measuring the reliability improvement and the precision of the produced static analysis rules. We also evaluated reuse of static analysis rules produced during PDM application on within- and cross-company software. Finally, we studied the effectiveness and acceptance of novice maintainers on applying the PDM method Results: In both industry cases, our approach allowed identifying defect patterns and finding unhandled latent exceptions to be fixed in the source code, enabling to eliminate the pattern-related failures and improving the application reliability completely. Some of the static analysis rules produced by PDM application were reused on within- and cross-company software. We identified knowledge and experiences that influence on effectively applying steps of the PDM method. Most of the novice maintainers find PDM useful, but not easy to apply, thus hindering PDM acceptance among novices. Conclusions: The results strengthen our confidence that PDM can help maintainers to improve the reliability for unhandled exceptions in existing web applications. We provide guidance on how to apply PDM, reuse the produced static analysis rules, and the knowledge and experiences needed to apply the PDM method effectively.

Text in English / Developments in Internet technology and pervasive computing over the past two and half decades have resulted in a variety of Web-based applications (WBAs) that provide products and services to online users or customers. The Internet is used not only to transfer information via the web but is increasingly used to provide electronic services including business transactions, information-delivery and social networking, as well as e-government, e-health and e-learning. For such organisations, e-service quality, usability and user experience are considered to be critical determinants of their products’ or services’ success. Many studies to model these three concepts separately have been undertaken as part of broader studies of software quality or service quality modelling. However, to the current researcher’s knowledge, none of the studies have focussed on proposing an evaluation model that integrates and combines the three of them. This research is an effort to fill that gap. The primary purpose of this mixed-methods research was to develop a conceptual integrated model for evaluating e-service quality, usability and user experience (e-SQUUX) of WBAs and then contextualise it to evaluation of a University web portal (UWP). This was undertaken using an exploratory sequential research design. During a qualitative phase, an extensive extensive systematic literature review of 264 relevant sources relating to dimensions of e-service quality, usability and user experience, was undertaken to derive an integrated conceptual e-service quality, usability and user experience (e-SQUUX) Model for evaluating WBAs. The model was then empirically refined through a sequential series of validations, thus developing various versions of the e-SQUUX Model. First, it was content validated by a set of four expert reviewers. Second, during the quantitative phase, in the context of a University web portal, a questionnaire survey was conducted that included a comprehensive pilot study with 29 partipants, prior to the main survey. The main survey data from 174 particiapants was used to determine a validated model, using Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by producing a structural model, using partial least square – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). This version consisted of the components of the final e-SQUUX Model. Consequently, the research enriches the body of knowledge on IS and HCI by providing the e-SQUUX Model as an evaluation tool. For designers, developers and managers of UWPs, the model serves as a customisable set of evaluation criteria and also provides specific recommendations for design. In line with the Exploratory sequential design of mixed methods research, the findings of the qualitative work in this research influenced the subsequent quantitative study, since the potential Likert-scale questionnaire items were derived from the definitions and meanings of the components that emanated from the qualitative phase of the study. Consequently, this research is an exemplar for developing an integrated evaluation model for specific facets or domains, and of its application in a particular context, in this case, a University web portal. Keywords: e-service quality, usability, user experience, evaluation model, integrated model, exploratory factor analysis, partial least square – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), mixed methods research, Exploratory sequential design, quantitative study, qualitative study, validation, Web-based applications, University web portal / Information System / Ph D. (Information Systems)

In the theoretical part, the author discusses the technological principles of Google Apps and proposes a way to use them for making the school education programme. In the practical part presents the results of action research attesting specific expected benefits of using Google Apps for the creation of the school education programme. Details the results of each of the 4 cycles of action research, which is currently becoming the next cycle starting points. Based on the experience the author recommends the use of innovative technologies Google Apps as an alternative solution to traditional forms of team projects in the school environment.

Οι εφαρμογές παγκόσμιου ιστού προσφέρουν ολοένα και περισσότερες, με υψηλό βαθμό πολυπλοκότητας υπηρεσίες, σε σχέση με τους πρώτους ιστότοπους που χρησιμοποιούνταν απλά και μόνο για την προβολή πληροφοριών. Λόγω της ολοένα αυξανόμενης πολυπλοκότητας των εφαρμογών αυτών, ο σχεδιασμός, η ανάπτυξη κι η συντηρησιμότητα μιας εφαρμογής παγκόσμιου ιστού προβάλλει ως μία από τις μεγαλύτερες προκλήσεις που καλείται να αντιμετωπίσει ο σχεδιαστής της. Η ερευνητική κοινότητα προκειμένου να αντιμετωπίσει την αυξανόμενη πολυπλοκότητα του σχεδιασμού εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού έχει προτείνει ένα πλήθος προσεγγίσεων και μεθόδων βασισμένων σε μοντέλα. Η δουλειά του σχεδιαστή εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού μπορεί να απλοποιηθεί ακόμα περισσότερο με την επαναχρησιμοποίηση της εμπειρίας άλλων σχεδιαστών εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού. Η επαναχρησιμοποίηση της εμπειρίας αυτής γίνεται με χρήση σχεδιαστικών προτύπων που ορίζονται από πεπειραμένους σχεδιαστές. Αν κατά το σχεδιασμό μιας εφαρμογής χρησιμοποιηθεί κάποια μέθοδος μοντελοποίησης σε συνδυασμό με ένα σύνολο σχεδιαστικών προτύπων, η τελική εφαρμογή θα είναι πιο αποδοτική και ποιοτική. Πολλές φορές όμως, κατά το σχεδιασμό και την ανάπτυξη μιας εφαρμογής παγκόσμιου ιστού δε λαμβάνεται υπόψη κάποια συγκεκριμένη μεθοδολογία μοντελοποίησης και ανάπτυξης. Ένα πλήθος μεθόδων αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης έχει αναπτυχθεί για την ανάλυση, κατανόηση και μοντελοποίηση των αρχιτεκτονικών τέτοιου είδους εφαρμογών. Στα πλαίσια της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας μελετούνται οι μέθοδοι μοντελοποίησης που έχουν προταθεί από την ερευνητική κοινότητα, τα σχεδιαστικά πρότυπα που έχουν οριστεί καθώς και οι μέθοδοι και οι διαδικασίες αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης που έχουν αναπτυχθεί. Επιπλέον προτείνεται μία μέθοδος αυτόματου εντοπισμού σχεδιαστικών λύσεων στο εννοιολογικό μοντέλο μιας εφαρμογής και μία μέθοδος αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης με στόχο τη μοντελοποίηση της εφαρμογής. Αναλυτικά, η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία είναι δομημένη ως εξής: Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο παραθέτονται τα οφέλη χρήσης μοντέλων κατά το σχεδιασμό εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού, καθώς και οι βασικές απαιτήσεις που θα πρέπει να ικανοποιούν οι μέθοδοι μοντελοποίησης για την πληρέστερη μοντελοποίηση των χαρακτηριστικών των εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού. Επιπλέον, γίνεται επισκόπηση και παρουσίαση των κυριότερων μεθόδων μοντελοποίησης που έχουν προταθεί από την ερευνητική κοινότητα. Ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα δίνεται στην παρουσίαση της γλώσσας μοντελοποίησης WebML, γιατί αποτελεί την γλώσσα μοντελοποίησης με βάση την οποία αναπτύχθηκαν οι μέθοδοι που προτείνονται στα κεφάλαια 3 και 4. Τέλος, στο κεφάλαιο αυτό γίνεται σύγκριση των προτεινόμενων μεθόδων μοντελοποίησης. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται τα οφέλη χρήσης σχεδιαστικών προτύπων τόσο από άπειρους όσο και από έμπειρους σχεδιαστές και δίνεται ένας επίσημος ορισμός των σχεδιαστικών προτύπων για τον παγκόσμιο ιστό. Επιπλέον, στα πλαίσια του κεφαλαίου αυτού γίνεται παρουσίαση των προτύπων δημοσίευσης και διαχείρισης περιεχομένου που έχουν οριστεί στη WebML. Για το σχεδιασμό πολύπλοκων εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού, ναι μεν το είδος επαναχρησιμοποίησης που προσφέρουν τα σχεδιαστικά πρότυπα παγκόσμιου ιστού είναι πολύτιμα, εν τούτοις απαιτείται η επαναχρησιμοποίηση όσο το δυνατόν μεγαλύτερων σχεδιαστικών δομών. Για το λόγο αυτό γίνεται αναφορά και παρουσίαση της επαναχρησιμοποίησης που υποστηρίζεται από τη χρήση σχεδιαστικών πλαισίων ανάπτυξης εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο προτείνεται μία μέθοδος ανάκτησης αποδοτικών σχεδιαστικών λύσεων και σχεδιαστικών προτύπων μέσα στο εννοιολογικό σχήμα-μοντέλο μίας ή περισσότερων εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού. Η συγκεκριμένη μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση, αν εφαρμοστεί σε εννοιολογικά σχήματα πολλών εφαρμογών μίας συγκεκριμένης κατηγορίας, μπορεί να οδηγήσει στον προσδιορισμό πλαισίων ανάπτυξης εφαρμογών για τον αποδοτικό σχεδιασμό εφαρμογών της συγκεκριμένης αυτής κατηγορίας, ή ακόμα και στον αυτόματο εντοπισμό σχεδιαστικών προτύπων. Τέλος, στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται ο ερευνητικός χώρος της αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης, τα συστατικά που αποτελούν μία εφαρμογή παγκόσμιου ιστού, καθώς και ο τύπος της πληροφορίας που απαιτείται να εξαχθεί από μία διαδικασία αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης, έτσι ώστε να γίνει κατανοητή και αντιληπτή η αρχιτεκτονική μιας τέτοιας εφαρμογής. Προτείνεται επίσης μια μέθοδος αντίστροφης μηχανίκευσης εφαρμογών παγκόσμιου ιστού, με στόχο τη μοντελοποίησή τους με χρήση της WebML και παρουσιάζεται το εργαλείο που αναπτύχθηκε στα πλαίσια της διπλωματικής εργασίας, για να υποστηρίξει την προτεινόμενη μέθοδο. Η εφαρμογή του σε μία εφαρμογή προβολής περιεχομένου έδωσε ενθαρρυντικά αποτελέσματα όσον αφορά τη λειτουργικότητα και την αποτελεσματικότητα της μεθόδου. / Web Applications provide many services and they are not used just to display content, as it was the case for the first web sites. Due to the growing complexity, the design, development and maintenance of these aplications has become one of the major challenges that the developer has to face. In an attempt to face this growing complexity, the research community has proposed a number of model based approaches and methods. The task of the hypertext architect may be further facilitated by reusing the experience of other hypertext architects. This reuse is achieved by means of design patterns that have been defined by experts. If, we make use of a modelling method in combination with design patterns when designing a web application, the final result will be more efficient and qualitative. Usually, due to the pressing market demands, the modeling methods or techniques are not applied during the degin and development of the web applications. A number of reverse engineering methods and tools have been proposed in order to analyse, comprehend and model the architectures of such applications. In this thesis, we study the various modelling methods that have been proposed, as well as the design paterns that have been defined and the reverse engineering methods that have been developed. Furthermore, we propose a method to automatically detect design solutions at the conceptual schema of a web application and a reverse engineering method in order to model an existing web application. Analytically, this master thesis is being structured in the following chapters: The first chapter presents the benefits of using models when designing web applications, as well as the requirements that a web application must satisfy in order to be able to model the features of the web applications. The main modelling methods, that have been proposed by the research community, are also presented. The Web modelling language (WebML) is extensively presented as it constitutes the model language with which the methods that we suggest in chapters 3 and 4 have been developed. In the end of this chapter, we make a comparison of the proposed modelling methods. In the second chapter we present the benefits gained when using design patterns by non-experienced as well by experienced developers. Moreover, we present the patterns that have been defined in WebML. Though the kind of reuse provided by patterns is valuable when designing web applications, complex web applications need a way to maximize reuse of larger design structures. For this reason, we also present the kind of reuse that is provided by using web application frameworks. In the third chapter we propose a methodology for retrieving effective design solutions, or even more design patterns, within the conceptual schema of one or more web applications. This approach, if applied to a large number of applications of the same domain, may lead to the identification of templates for specific domain Web application frameworks and to the discovery of new design patterns. The fourth and last chapter of this thesis focuses on reverse engineering. We present the work that has been done in the domain of reverse engineering, the components of a web application, and the type of information that should be retrieved by a reverse engineering approach in order to comprehend the architecture of the web application. We also suggest a reverse engineering method in order to model an existing web application using WebML. The tool that was implemented in order to support this method is also presented. Applying this method in a content management application gave us good results as far as its functionality and its effectiveness are concerned.

Este trabajo de tesis presenta lineamientos específicos para la aplicación de Ingeniería de Requerimientos Web al tratamiento de los RNF. Presenta procesos de Elicitación y Especificación de RNF Web y ofrece las plantillas diseñadas particularmente para la captura y especificación de los RNF en los procesos definidos. Si bien actualmente la Ingeniería de Requerimientos proporciona numerosas técnicas y herramientas para identificar, describir, validar y gestionar requerimientos, estos no son aplicados muy a menudo, en el desarrollo de aplicaciones Web. La madurez del proceso de ingeniería de requerimientos parece ser insuficiente, esa insuficiencia demanda nuevos enfoques o evolución de los actuales para el tratamiento adecuado de los RNF. Los RNF de los sistemas software no son un todo homogéneo, hay falta de consenso para responder a los interrogantes: ¿Qué son? ¿Cómo se clasifican dentro del contexto de desarrollo de software? y ¿Cómo se clasifican en el desarrollo de aplicaciones Web? Este trabajo parte de una revisión del estado de arte de los conceptos de RNF en la literatura de la Ingeniería de Requerimientos y establece como bases conceptuales que los RNF son requerimientos de calidad y son restricciones. Luego ofrece un análisis comparativo de seis enfoques existentes de desarrollo de aplicaciones Web para estudiar qué tratamiento aplican a los RNF, en el cual se pudo determinar que las metodologías de aplicaciones Web estudiadas: Contemplan los RNF, aunque se carece de consenso en su significado. No disponen de técnicas específicas para la elicitación de RNF, ni lineamientos uniformes para la especificación y la validación. No brindan técnicas que soporten el tratamiento de los RNF a lo largo del ciclo de vida. Hay carencia de consenso para establecer en qué fase del ciclo de vida de desarrollo se identifican los RNF. Hay RNF que no son identificados durante la fase de relevamiento y análisis. A partir de este análisis y dada la importancia de los RNF, se proponen procesos para la elicitación y especificación de los RNF Web (de calidad y restricciones), se describen las plantillas propuestas que dan soporte a los procesos y finalmente se presenta la validación de los conceptos y técnicas propuestos mediante un caso de estudio en un proyecto real. / This thesis introduces specifics guidelines to apply Web Requirements Engineering to the treatment of Non-Functional Requirements. It introduces the process of Elicitation and Specification for Web Non-Functional Requirements and offers spreadsheets designed to capture and specify Non-Functional Requirements in the defined processes. While at present Requirement Engineering has numerous techniques and tools to identify, describe, validate and manage requirements, these are not frequently applied in the development of Web applications. The maturity of the Requirements Engineering process seems insufficient; this insufficiency demands new approaches or the evolution of current process to the correct treatment of Non-Functional Requirements. Non-Functional Requirements of software systems are not homogenous; there is a lack of consensus to answer the following questions: What are Non-Functional Requirements? How they are classified within the context of software development? and How the Non-Functional Requirements are classified within the development of web software application? This thesis starts with a revision of the state of art of the concept of Non-Functional Requirements in Requirements Engineering literature and establishes as conceptual foundations that Non-Functional Requirements are quality requirements and restrictions. Then, there is a comparative analysis of six different existing approaches in Web application development to study what treatment applies to Non-Functional Requirements, in which methodologies of the Web applications studied: Non-Functional Requirements are considered, but there is no consensus in their meaning. There are neither specifics techniques for elicitation of Non-Functional Requirements nor uniform guidelines for the specification and validation. There are no techniques supporting the treatment of the Non-Functional Requirements along the lifetime cycle. There is a lack of consensus to establish within which phase of development lifetime cycle Non-Functional Requirements are identified. There are Non-Functional Requirements that are not indentified during requirement capture and analysis phases. After this analysis and the give importance of the Non-Functional Requirements, a process for the elicitation and specification of the Web Non-Functional Requirements (quality and restrictions) is proposed, exposed spreadsheets are described to support processes and finally, validations of the concepts and techniques are introduced applied to a real project.

Nos últimos anos, a demanda por aplicações Web vem crescendo rapidamente para atender às necessidades das pessoas e empresas. Essas aplicações têm proporcionado benefícios que vão desde melhorias no processo de comunicação e maior velocidade ao realizar tarefas até a redução de custos. No entanto, inúmeros problemas relacionados à usabilidade de interfaces, a exemplo da alta complexidade e baixa eficácia de uso têm dificultado e, em muitos casos, inviabilizado a utilização de aplicações Web. Esse fato é preocupante, pois a usabilidade é apontada pelos usuários como o atributo de qualidade de software mais importante e por constatar que muitas organizações ainda não empregam os recursos de suporte à usabilidade sob vários motivos, tais como: desconhecimento de técnicas, métodos e ferramentas; restrição de orçamento; e dificuldade de seleção e uso sistemático desses recursos. Desenvolver interfaces com maior qualidade de uso é um desafio que tem se tornado crítico para o sucesso das aplicações Web junto às empresas e aos usuários. Pesquisas foram realizadas, mas há lacunas quanto ao fornecimento de soluções integradas de suporte à usabilidade nas diversas fases de um projeto de aplicação Web. Diante dessa necessidade, este trabalho propõe o Framework UEF-WEB de apoio à Engenharia de Usabilidade. Este framework, composto por fases, atividades, recursos e artefatos, tem por objetivo principal auxiliar as organizações a introduzir, de maneira sistematizada, recursos de usabilidade no processo de planejamento, desenvolvimento e avaliação de interfaces de aplicações Web, com vistas à ampliação da qualidade de uso das interfaces construídas.

The popularity of the internet has made the use of web applications ubiquitous and essential to the daily lives of people, businesses and governments. Web servers and web applications are commonly used to handle tasks and data that can be critical and highly valuable, making them a very attractive target for attackers and a vector for successful attacks that are aimed at the application layer. Existing misuse and anomaly-based detection and prevention techniques fail to cope with the volume and sophistication of new attacks that are continuously appearing, which suggests that there is a need to provide new additional layers of protection. This work aims to design a new layer of defense based on deception that is employed in the context of web application-layer traffic with the purpose of detecting and preventing attacks. The proposed design is composed of five deception strategies: Deceptive Comments, Deceptive Request Parameters, Deceptive Session Cookies, Deceptive Status Codes and Deceptive JavaScript. The strategies were implemented as a software artifact and their performance evaluated in a testing environment using a custom test script, the OWASP ZAP penetration testing tool and two vulnerable web applications. Deceptive Parameter strategy obtained the best security performance results, followed by Deceptive Comments and Deceptive Status Codes. Deceptive Cookies and Deceptive JavaScript got the poorest security performance results since OWASP ZAP was unable to detect and use deceptive elements generated by these strategies. Operational performance results showed that the deception artifact could successfully be implemented and integrated with existing web applications without changing their source code and adding a low operational overhead.