Incorporating Software Visualization in the Design of Intelligent Diagnosis Systems for User Programming

Program diagnosis systems were developed to help users solve programming problems. By providing guidence on errors and misconceptions, these systems can help the users in writing programs and understanding their dynamic behavior. Features of software visualization which aim at providing visual and concrete depictions to the abstractions and operations of programs have also shown to be making programs more understandable. The main theme of this paper is to asses the usefulness of incorporating features of software visualization into the design of program diagnosis systems intended for novices. We report an empirical evaluation to assess the effectiveness of supporting visualization features during problem solving. The system used in the evaluation integrates visualzation and immediacy features and supports a model-tracing based approach to program diagnosis. Unlike other similar systems, our prototype system supports a more flexible style of interaction by increasing the grain size of diagnosis to a complete programming statement. The evaluation reported here seems to suggest that when supported with visualization features, systems for program diagnosis tend to be more effective in helping the users during problem solving.     

An object-oriented software life cycle of an intelligent tutoring system

Abstract  This paper describes the application of an object-oriented model of life cycle in the development of an intelligent tutoring system for secondary students in the domain of algebraic powers. The system is called EasyMath and has been developed using the Rational Unified Process, which is an object-oriented process proposed for use with the Unified Modelling Language. The Rational Unified Process supports multiple recursions of the phases of the software life cycle. This has been enriched to include empirical studies and formative evaluations appropriate for knowledge-based educational software.     

Support for Implementation of Evolutionary Concurrent Systems

Concurrent programs that embed specifications of synchronizations in the body of their component are difficult to extend and modify. Small changes in a concurrent program, particularly changes in the interactions among components, may require re-implementation of a large number of components. Even specifications of components cannot be reused easily. This paper presents a concurrent program composition mechanism in which both specification and implementation of computations and interactions are completely separated. Separation of specifications and implementations facilitates extensions and modifications of programs by allowing one to separately change the implementations of computations and interactions. It also supports their reusability. The paper also describes the design and implementation of a concurrent object-oriented programming language based on this model, including a compiler for the language, and reports on the execution behavior of programs written in the language.     

An Approach for Recovering Distributed System Architectures

Reasoning about software systems at the architectural level is key to effective software development, management, evolution and reuse. All too often, though, the lack of appropriate documentation leads to a situation where architectural design information has to be recovered directly from implemented software artifacts. This is a very demanding process, particularly when involving recovery of runtime abstractions (clients, servers, interaction protocols, etc.) that are typical to the design of distributed software systems. This paper presents an exploratory reverse engineering approach, called X-ray, to aid programmers in recovering architectural runtime information from a distributed system's existing software artifacts. X-ray comprises three domain-based static analysis techniques, namely component module classification, syntactic pattern matching, and structural reachability analysis. These complementary techniques can facilitate the task of identifying a distributed system's implemented executable components and their potential runtime interconnections. The component module classification technique automatically distinguishes source code modules according to the executables components they implement. The syntactic pattern matching technique in turn helps to recognise specific code fragments that may implement typical component interaction features. Finally, the structural reachability analysis technique aids in the association of those features to the code specific for each executable component. The paper describes and illustrates the main concepts underlying each technique, reports on their implementation as a suit of new and off-the-shelf tools, and, to give evidence of the utility of the approach, provides a detailed account of a successful application of the three techniques to help recover a static approximation of the runtime architecture for Field, a publicly-available distributed programming environment.     

How Practical is a Code of Ethics for Software Engineers Interested in Quality?

Software Quality Journal -     

Product Focused Software Process Improvement: Concepts and Experiences from Industry

Management problems in the development of software have been addressed over the last years by a strong focus on the improvement of the development processes. Software process improvement (SPI) activities are characterized by an internal focus on a software development department and its procedures. However, the quality of the product is hardly addressed in software process improvement programs. This paper presents the application of a model for product focused SPI (P-SPI) and describes experiences with this model in practice. The main conclusions are that P-SPI puts products to be developed in a central position in improvement programs, results in fulfilling specific quality goals of a company and project, and industrial experiments show interesting benefits. Applying the approach in industrial projects showed that P-SPI is relatively cheap and gives fast results and high benefits.     

基于VB的模型组态仿真软件的技术研究

介绍了利用Visual Basic开发对象模型组态仿真软件的一些技术,主要包括用户界面的建立、创建并调用ActiveX控制实现I／O操作及与使用控件建立与访问历史数据数据库,最后给出仿真实例界面。     

面向Agent生命周期法的LonWorks现场总线控制系统产品CS2000设计与实现

针对现有LonWorks产品只提供Neuron C指令语言编程环境的缺陷,设计开发研制成功一套提供可视化图形控制组态软件平台的LonWorks现场总线控制系统产品CS2000.文中给出了该系统产品研制过程中采用的面向Agent生命周期法的技术路线,说明了系统分析与设计的实施步骤,并具体阐述了硬件节点和控制组态软件平台的关键实现技术.该系统产品目前已成功应用于楼宇自动化和工业自动化的工程项目中,具有产业化价值.     

热电偶冷端温度智能补偿与检测

介绍了具有热电偶冷端温度智能补偿的温度检测系统的组成和功能 ,重点阐述了以单片机为核心构成热电偶冷端温度智能补偿的原理和特点 ,说明了软件功能。最后给出了实践结果及主要性能指标。     

自主学习型多媒体课件的设计

本文针对《几何画扳制作课件培训软件》多媒体课件的设计开发,提出利用合适的教与学理论指导教学设计,并通过恰当的技术将学习内容展示给学习者,使得学习者能够主动参与到学习过程中,同时还可以对相关的技能及时进行实践加以掌握。经过这样的学习过程学习者不但学到了知识,还能够运用其解决实际问题。