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IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference Workshops (REW)

Towards Quantum Requirements Engineering

Paola Spoletini

Published Sep 1, 2023• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum computing is rapidly transitioning from a scientific curiosity to an industrial reality, offering the potential to overcome classical computation limitations. This shift has given rise to the field of quantum software engineering (QSE), focused on developing novel approaches for engineering large-scale quantum applications. Traditional software engineering methods fall short in addressing the unique characteristics of quantum computing, necessitating innovative QSE methodologies and tools. While progress has been made in testing and debugging quantum programs, very little work has been done on analyzing if and how existing requirements engineering techniques can address the challenges that designing quantum software raises. This paper discusses some of the challenges for requirements engineers while eliciting requirements for quantum software, modeling the collected requirements, and analyzing them, and introduces some initial solutions for eliciting, modeling, and analyzing quantum requirements.

DOI
10.1109/rew57809.2023.00072

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Quantum computing is rapidly transitioning from a scientific curiosity to an industrial reality, offering the potential to overcome classical computation limitations. This shift has given rise to the field of quantum software engineering (QSE), focused on developing novel approaches for engineering large-scale quantum applications. Traditional software engineering methods fall short in addressing the unique characteristics of quantum computing, necessitating innovative QSE methodologies and tools. While progress has been made in testing and debugging quantum programs, very little work has been done on analyzing if and how existing requirements engineering techniques can address the challenges that designing quantum software raises. This paper discusses some of the challenges for requirements engineers while eliciting requirements for quantum software, modeling the collected requirements, and analyzing them, and introduces some initial solutions for eliciting, modeling, and analyzing quantum requirements.
The quantum computing (QC) field is rapidly moving beyond the realm of pure science to become a commercially viable technology that may be able to overcome the drawbacks of traditional computing. Major technology tycoons have spent in building coding frameworks and hardware to create applications specifically designed for quantum computing over the last few years. The development of QC hardware is accelerating, however, the requirement for software-intensive methodology, approaches, procedures, instruments, roles and responsibilities for creating industrial-focused quantum software applications arises from operationalizing the QC. This paper outlines the concept of quantum software engineering (QSE) life cycle, which entails the engineering of quantum requirements, design, implementation, testing and maintenance of quantum software. This paper notably advocates for collaborative efforts between the industrial community and software engineering research to propose practical solutions to support the complete activities for the development of quantum software. The proposed vision makes it easier for researchers and practitioners to suggest new procedures, reference designs, cutting-edge equipment, and methods for utilizing quantum computers and creating the newest and most advanced quantum software.
Quantum computing is no longer only a scientific interest but is rapidly becoming an industrially available technology that can potentially overcome the limits of classical computation. Over the last years, all major companies have provided frameworks and programming languages that allow developers to create their quantum applications. This shift has led to the definition of a new discipline called quantum software engineering, which is demanded to define novel methods for engineering large-scale quantum applications. While the research community is successfully embracing this call, we notice a lack of systematic investigations into the state of the practice of quantum programming. Understanding the challenges that quantum developers face is vital to precisely define the aims of quantum software engineering. Hence, in this paper, we first mine all the GitHub repositories that make use of the most used quantum programming frameworks currently on the market and then conduct coding analysis sessions to produce a taxonomy of the purposes for which quantum technologies are used. In the second place, we conduct a survey study that involves the contributors of the considered repositories, which aims to elicit the developers' opinions on the current adoption and challenges of quantum programming. On the one hand, the results highlight that the current adoption of quantum programming is still limited. On the other hand, there are many challenges that the software engineering community should carefully consider: these do not strictly pertain to technical concerns but also socio-technical matters.
Quantum computing is no longer just a scientific curiosity; it is rapidly evolving into a commercially viable technology that has the potential to surpass the limitations of classical computation. As a result of this transition, a new discipline known as quantum software engineering has emerged, which is needed to describe unique methodologies for developing large-scale quantum applications. In the pursue of building this new body of knowledge, we undertake a mining study to elicit the purposes quantum programming is being used for, and steer further research.
Quantum computing is no longer just a scientific curiosity; it is rapidly evolving into a commercially viable technology that has the potential to surpass the limitations of classical computation. As a result of this transition, a new discipline known as quantum software engineering has emerged, which is needed to describe unique methodologies for developing large-scale quantum applications. In the pursue of building this new body of knowledge, we undertake a mining study to elicit the purposes quantum programming is being used for, and steer further research.
As quantum computing transitions from a theoretical domain to a practical technology, many aspects of established practice in software engineering are being faced with new challenges. Quantum Software Engineering has been developed to address the peculiar needs that arise with quantum systems’ dependable, scalable, and fault-tolerant software development. The present paper critically reviews how traditional software engineering methodologies can be reshaped to fit into the quantum field. This also entails providing some critical contributions: frameworks to integrate classical and quantum systems, new error mitigation techniques, and the development of quantum-specific testing and debugging tools. In this respect, best practices have been recommended to ensure that future quantum software can harness the evolving capabilities of quantum hardware with continued performance, reliability, and scalability. The work is supposed to act as a foundational guide for the researcher and developer as quantum computing approaches widespread scientific and industrial adoption.
As quantum computers advance, the complexity of the software they can execute increases as well. To ensure this software is efficient, maintainable, reusable, and cost-effective—key qualities of any industry-grade software—mature software engineering practices must be applied throughout its design, development, and operation. However, the significant differences between classical and quantum software make it challenging to directly apply classical software engineering methods to quantum systems. This challenge has led to the emergence of Quantum Software Engineering (QSE) as a distinct field within the broader software engineering landscape. In this work, a group of active researchers analyze in depth the current state of QSE research. From this analysis, the key areas of QSE are identified and explored in order to determine the most relevant open challenges that should be addressed in the next years. These challenges help identify necessary breakthroughs and future research directions for advancing QSE.