components and component architecture, use-cases and use-case driven development, SDL, a major contributor to UML, Objectory, RUP, aspect-oriented software development, SEMAT, and Essence
After his master's degree, Jacobson joined Ericsson and worked in R&D on computerized switching systems AKE[1] and AXE including PLEX. After his PhD thesis in April 1987, he started Objective Systems with Ericsson as a major customer. A majority stake of the company was acquired by Ericsson in 1991, and the company was renamed Objectory AB. Jacobson developed the software method Object-Oriented Software Engineering (OOSE) published 1992, which was a simplified version of the commercial software process Objectory (short for Object Factory).
Jacobson saw a need for blueprints for software development. He was one of the original developers of the Specification and Design Language (SDL).[4] In 1976, SDL became a standard in the telecoms industry.[5]
At Objectory he also invented use cases as a way to specify functional software requirements.[6][7]
In November 2005, Jacobson announced the Essential Unified Process or “EssUP” for short. EssUP was a new “Practice”-centric[clarification needed] software development process derived from established software development practices. It integrated practices sourced from three different process camps: the unified process camp, the agile software development camp, and the process improvement camp. Each one of them contributed different capabilities: structure, agility, and process improvement.
Standing on the experience of EssUP Ivar and his team, in particular Ian Spence and Pan Wei Ng, developed EssWork starting in 2006. EssWork is a framework for working with methods. It is based on a kernel of universal elements always prevalent in software development endeavors. On top of the kernel some fifteen practices have been defined. A team can create their own method by composing practices.
In November 2009, Jacobson, Bertrand Meyer, and Richard Soley ("the Troika") started an initiative called SEMAT (Software Engineering Method and Theory) to seek to develop a rigorous, theoretically basis for software engineering practice, and to promote its wide adoption by industry and academia. SEMAT has been inspired by the work at IJI, but with a fresh new start. Essence, an OMG standard since November 2014, is the end result.[9] Methods are seen by Essence as combining software engineering and development techniques. It seeks to make it possible to separate practices from methods, making it easier for them to be combined and reused to create methods that are best suited to the situation.[10]
Jacobson has published numerous books and articles.[11] A selection:
1992. Object-Oriented Software Engineering: A Use Case Driven Approach (ACM Press) With Magnus Christerson, Patrik Jonsson & Gunnar Overgaard. Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN0-201-54435-0
1994. The Object Advantage: Business Process Reengineering With Object Technology (ACM Press). With M. Ericsson & A. Jacobson. Addison-Wesley, ISBN0-201-42289-1
1997. Software Reuse: Architecture, Process, and Organization for Business Success (ACM Press). With Martin Griss & Patrik Jonsson. Addison-Wesley, 1997, ISBN0-201-92476-5
2004. Aspect-Oriented Software Development With Use Cases (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series). With Pan-Wei Ng. Addison-Wesley, ISBN0-321-26888-1
2013. The Essence of Software Engineering - Applying the SEMAT Kernel. With Pan-Wei Ng, Paul Mc Mahon, Ian Spence, and Svante Lidman. Addison-Wesley, 2013, ISBNISBN978-0321885951
2019. The Essentials of Modern Software Engineering - Free the Practices from the Method prisons. With Harold "Bud" Lawson, Pan-Wei Ng, Paul Mc Mahon, and Michael Goedicke. ACM Books & Morgan & Claypool publishers, 2019, ISBN978-1-947487-24-6
