The Real World Software Process

The industry-wide demand for rapid development in concert with greater process maturity has seen many software development firms adopt tightly structured iterative processes. While a number of commercial vendors offer suitable process infrastructure and tool support, the cost of licensing, configuration and staff training may be prohibitive for the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) which dominate the Asia-Pacific software industry. This work addresses these problems through the introduction of the Real World Software Process (RWSP), a freely available, Web-based iterative scheme designed specifically for small teams and organisations. RWSP provides a detailed process description, high quality document templates - including code review and inspection guidelines - and the integrated tutorial support necessary for successful usage by inexperienced developers and teams. In particular it is intended that the process be readily usable by software houses which at present do not follow a formal process, and that the free RWSP process infrastructure should be a vehicle for improving industry standards

A Passive Test Oracle Using a Component's API

A test oracle is a mechanism that is used during testing to determine whether a software component behaves correctly or not. The test oracle problem is widely acknowledged in the software testing literature and many methods for test oracle development have been proposed. Most of these methods use specifications or other resources to develop test oracles. A passive test oracle checks the behaviour of the component, but does not reproduce this behaviour. In this paper, we present a technique that develops passive test oracles for components using their APIs. This simple technique can be applied to any software component that is accessed through an API. In an initial experiment, we found that test oracles developed this way were more effective at finding faults with a relatively small number of test cases than test oracles developed from a formal specification and developed as a parallel implementation

Contemporary developments in teaching and learning introductory programming: Towards a research proposal

The teaching and learning of introductory programming in tertiary institutions is problematic. Failure rates are high and the inability of students to complete small programming tasks at the completion of introductory units is not unusual. The literature on teaching programming contains many examples of changes in teaching strategies and curricula that have been implemented in an effort to reduce failure rates. This paper analyses contemporary research into the area, and summarises developments in the teaching of introductory programming. It also focuses on areas for future research which will potentially lead to improvements in both the teaching and learning of introductory programming. A graphical representation of the issues from the literature that are covered in the document is provided in the introduction

Developing Secure Systems: A Comparative Study of Existing Methodologies

With the increasing demand for developing high-quality and more reliable systems, the process of developing trustworthy computer software is a challenging one. In this paper, we review various approaches to producing more secure systems. This includes established general principles for designing secure systems. It also provides an introduction to general software quality measurements including existing software security metrics. This paper also includes a comparison of the various security metrics for developing secure systems (i.e., architectural, design, and code-level metrics). Lastly, the paper examines the approach of refactoring, illustrates its objectives, and shows how refactoring is generally used for enhancing the quality of existing programs from the perspective of information security. At the end of this paper, we provide a discussion of these three approaches and how they can be used to provide guidance for future secure software development processes

The Determinants of Firms' Innovativeness on Construction Technology in Malaysian Heavy Construction Sector

The peculiar characteristics of constructed products significantly differentiate construction from manufacturing. Past researches seem have been given greatest attention and concentration to the innovation in manufacturing sector. This research assesses the determinants of firm’s innovativeness in construction sector, which has been neglected by researchers despite its immense importance to the technological advancement in affecting the degree of innovation implementation and adoption. A total of fourteen hypothesises were developed and tested. These hypotheses are established within the context of heavy construction sector characteristics that are consistently suggested to be significant determinants of firm innovativeness. These characteristics include (1) market structure characteristics, (2) organisation and task characteristics, (3) adopter industry competitive environment, and (4) external cooperation linkage. This study has reviewed the problem of determinants of firms’ innovativeness in technological innovation the Malaysian heavy construction sector to meet the three outlined objectives. Hypotheses were tested utilising survey data collect from Malaysia Construction Industry Development Board, CIDB Grade 7 construction firms throughout the Malaysia. The relationships of the identified four domains were discussed in this research. The results indicate that adopter industry competitive environment and external cooperation linkage are among the variables that significantly affect the degree of innovation implementation and adoption. Results also indicate that 13 out of 14 hypothesises are supported and positively affecting the degree of innovation implementation and adoption. Lastly, a new model closely reflects the essence of the determinants of firm’s innovativeness in heavy construction sector was formulated. Therefore, the results suggest that increasing the rate of innovation implementation and adoption may be enhanced to a greater degree by increasing adopter industry competitive environment and external linkage rather than implementing market structure environment characteristics or organisation and task characteristics. This research has value and has advanced knowledge in construction industry, especially, and hence the aim has successfully attained

A class of its own: a history of Queensland University of Technology

The history of the Queensland University of Technology is a large part the history of higher education in Queensland. QUT was established in 1989, but it incorporated a series of 13 predecessor institutions stretching back to 1849 and is the only university in Queensland which can claim such a rich and extensive past. A class of its Own explores the histories of these various institutions (including Technical Colleges, Kindergarten Training Colleges, Teachers Colleges and Colleges of Advanced Education) and examines their distinctive aspects

From Scenarios to Optimally Allocated Timed Automata

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. June 2017. Major: Computer Science. Advisor: Neda Saeedloei. 1 computer file (PDF); vi, 62 pages.Our contribution is twofold. First, we develop a new method for synthesizing a formal model for real-time systems from scenarios. Scenarios describe partial behaviours of realtime systems during some time interval. We propose Timed Event Sequences to formally express scenarios. Given a set of scenarios as Timed Event Sequences, along with a mode graph, we propose a method to automatically construct a minimal, acyclic, and deterministic timed automaton that models the specified aspects of the system. Second, we consider the problem of optimally allocating clocks in timed automata. Reducing the number of clocks in a timed automaton is important, as it directly affects the complexity of the verification problem. Given a timed automaton, it is undecidable, in general, to check whether there exists another timed automaton that accepts the same language but has fewer number of clocks. We identify a fairly general class of timed automata and propose an algorithm (polynomial time) for optimally allocating clocks to timed automata in this class. The previous approaches changed the shape of the graph of the original timed automaton by constructing bisimilar timed automata. Our method does not change the graph of timed automata. The cost of our algorithm is quadratic in the size of the underlying graph of the timed automaton

A framework for software reuse in safety-critical system of systems

This thesis concerns the effective and safe software reuse in safety-critical system-of-systems. Software reuse offers many unutilized benefits such as achieving rapid system development, saving resources and time, and keeping up technologically in an increasingly advancing global environment. System software needs to be designed for both reuse and safety and available information shared effectively. We introduce a process neutral framework for software reuse in safety-critical system of systems. That framework consists of four elements: organizational factors, component attributes, component specification, and safety analysis. We developed a model (C5RA) to capture the relevant component information and assist in specification matching. We conducted a survey of software safety metrics, created metrics, and developed a ranking. We applied the framework utilizing the reuse of a generic avionics software component. Our key findings are that congruence between all elements is required; software should posses certain attributes with metrics that support a safe design; software component information can be specified using C5RA; and a process was identified for a system-of-systems hazard analysis for software reuse. The framework outlined provides a solution that enables effective software reuse in safety-critical system of systems.http://archive.org/details/aframeworkforsof109454142Australian Army author.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The development building maintenance training model of healthcare industry

This thesis deals with investigated the building maintenance aspects in maintenance organization of healthcare industry in Malaysia. The aim is to develop a model for building maintenance training for health care industry. The intention of this qualitative study was to generate a theory, grounded in data.The purpose of this study was to develop a theory, grounded in data that conceptualizes the main concern of building maintenance. The main contribution of the thesis was to generate new model for training in building maintenance for healthcare industry. The study contributes to the body of knowledge for training development in building maintenance for healthcare industry. This research was conducted using Grounded Theory approach. The methods of initial data collection were: face-to-face interviews with the technical managers and technical supervisors. The Grounded Theory requirements, the participants were selected using purposive sampling method taken from the list of workers who have experienced the maintenance works which were held during preliminary study. The study applies Grounded Theory as an holistic methodology to investigate the experience of building maintenance practitioners in this study context. Grounded Theory is a sociological methodology designed to formulate a new (Grounded) theory from a substantive area‘, i.e. a participant group typically comprising a shared technical role or activity. Key elements of Grounded Theory include an emphasis on induction-based conceptualization of theory from descriptive participant indicators and the continuous comparison of data for the emergence of ‗coding categories‘ due to thematic analysis. Using core grounded theory concepts, a methodological framework of data collection and analysis was developed that focused on data centrality and discovering a data- emergent theory grounded within the research field. A core category of selective perception emerged that explained and captured the core phenomenon of sustained barriers to decision-making and selective bias towards information due to the interpretative nature of the socially constructed environment. At the core of the discovered theory is that individuals have a tendency to reject decisions within an informal environment based on external variables not directly related to the decisions. By constructing a theoretical model explained through several propositions, this thesis shows that decision-making efficiency is impacted by selective perception, communication effectiveness, the level of trust, and available resources, with a strong interrelation between each variable. The concept of adaptability was applied and tested for relevance and effectiveness within the research field, with positive results. Grounded Theory by Glaser & Strauss was employed to investigate this phenomenon thus revealing the main concern of the participants and resulting in specific theoretical propositions grounded in the data. The building maintenance practitioner‘s interviews in this study identified building maintenance key points relating to employee experiences of work-life interaction. The research focus was then narrowed to delimit the emerging theory around four main categories in the data. In total, interviews were conducted as part of the dynamic and fluid process of coding, theoretical sampling, literature review and interpretation that is Grounded Theory. This thesis concludes with discussions on the implications for practice, research, and suggestions for future research. As summary, the development of building maintenance model for in-house training of maintenance healthcare industry comprises of integrated component such as architectural, building services and safety and health thus ‗BIMO‘ model as contribution by researcher towards to knowledge and society