Autonomous requirements specification processing using natural language processing
This work addresses the challenge of processing requirements specifications for systems analysts and software engineers, but it appears incremental as it builds on existing NLP methods.
The paper tackles the problem of automating requirements analysis in software engineering by applying natural language processing to extract and classify objects from requirements documents, resulting in a prototype toolset for assisting analysts.
We describe our ongoing research that centres on the application of natural language processing (NLP) to software engineering and systems development activities. In particular, this paper addresses the use of NLP in the requirements analysis and systems design processes. We have developed a prototype toolset that can assist the systems analyst or software engineer to select and verify terms relevant to a project. In this paper we describe the processes employed by the system to extract and classify objects of interest from requirements documents. These processes are illustrated using a small example.