xviii Preface
The essence of knowledge maps is twofold: a clear methodology and a precise visual
representation. For the methodology approach, we have provided a set of guidelines,
heuristics, and quality factors that will simplify the process of creating knowledge maps,
along with their realization and documentation. However, for visual representation, we have
provided the visual gadgets or symbols that convey how the knowledge maps and their
enclosed elements look, and in what manner they interact with other enclosed elements or
other knowledge maps. Together, both methodology and visual representation serve as the
road map for building systems from software patterns in a cost-effective manner. In addi-
tion to this, this road map will also allow the creation of synergies between managers and
technical staff, especially when creating systems in terms of goals and capabilities. As a
result, these synergies will provide the ways and means for reducing existing communica-
tion gaps between the managerial and technical staff.
In essence, this book provides readers with a detailed view of the art and practice of cre-
ating meaningful knowledge maps that help software developers build software products
from stable, enduring, and cost-effective software patterns.
WHOM IS THIS BOOK FOR?
Software students who read this book will gain a basic, as well as advanced, under-
standing of principles and issues related to the creation of stable and robust software
patterns, meaningful knowledge maps, and their domain analysis. While using knowl-
edge maps, we can expect great team dynamics between managers and technical staffs.
They are capable of creating an environment where the initial clashing of ideas that
might occur because of one’s own beliefs and experience is immediately detected and
recognized for immediate action and identication of suitable solutions. This environ-
ment will also allow managers and technical staff to focus on the merit of the problem
and not on the irrelevant and tries, for example, implementation details. At the same
time, it will also create a common language for communicating ideas between manag-
ers and the technical staff.
Students, software developers, software designers, and technical managers with a
basic background in software development and engineering will nd information con-
tained in this book easy to understand. Although some of the material in this book
relates to advanced programming, readers (both beginning and advanced) can easily
understand its essence and get the big picture of creating knowledge maps and robust
software patterns.
This book could be of great help for a large community of computing and modeling aca-
demics, students, software technologists, software methodologists, software pattern com-
munities, component developers, software reuse communities, and software professionals
(analysts, designers, architects, programmers, testers, maintainers, and developers) who are
involved in the management, research, and development of methodologies and software
patterns. Industry agents, who work on any technology project and want to improve the
project’s reliability and cost-effectiveness, will also benet hugely by reading this book.
We also anticipate and assume that the concepts presented in this book will greatly affect
the development of new software systems and application frameworks for the next two or
three decades. This book will be very valuable for database designers, knowledge manage-
ment and development professionals, and knowledge ontology scientists. We expectthis
book to be a leading choice for many graduate courses on software engineering, system