Specifaj

Specifaj is a theoretical framework and terminology used in information science and software engineering to describe a unified approach to capturing, validating, and exchanging specification data across development processes. It aims to bridge human-readable requirements with machine-interpretable representations, enabling automated checks, traceability, and interoperability among tools.

Core components include a specification language, an ontological schema, and a set of validation rules. The language supports declarative statements about requirements, interfaces, quality attributes, and constraints. The ontological schema defines entities such as requirements, artifacts, actors, and interactions and specifies relationships among them. Validation rules enforce consistency, completeness, and conformance to standards.

Origin and usage: Specifaj was proposed as a standardization concept in response to fragmentation in requirements management and model-driven engineering. It is discussed in academic and industry pilot projects to test automatic reasoning, impact analysis, and change propagation.

Applications: It is used in requirements engineering, software design, test planning, and regulatory compliance. Tooling around Specifaj aims to provide editors, validators, and adapters to exchange specifications among diverse repositories.

Criticism and challenges: As a relatively new concept, adoption requires community agreement on semantics, adequate tooling, and training. Critics point to potential complexity and the risk of over-formalization.