Recent Trends in Software Engineering Research As Seen Through Its Publications

This study provides some insight into the field of software engineering through analysis of its recent research publications. Data for this study are taken from the ACM\u27s Guide to Computing Literature (GUIDE) They include both the professionally assigned Computing Classification System (CCS) descriptors and the title text of each software engineering publication reviewed by the GUIDE from 1998 through 2001. The first part of this study provides a snapshot of software engineering by applying co-word analysis techniques to the data. This snapshot indicates recent themes or areas of interest, which, when compared with the results from earlier studies, reveal current trends in software engineering. Software engineering continues to have no central focus. Concepts like software development, process improvement, applications, parallelism, and user interfaces are persistent and, thus, help define the field, but they provide little guidance for researchers or developers of academic curricula. Of more interest and use are the specific themes illuminated by this study, which provide a clearer indication of the current interests of the field. Two prominent themes are the related issues of programming-in-the-large and best practices. Programming-in-the-large is the term often applied to large-scale and long-term software development, where project and people management, code reusability, performance measures, documentation, and software maintenance issues take on special importance. These issues began emerging in earlier periods, but seem to have risen to prominence during the current period. Another important discovery is the trend in software development toward using networking and the Internet. Many network- and Internet-related descriptors were added to the CCS in 1998. The prominent appearance and immediate use of these descriptors during this period indicate that this is a real trend and not just an aberration caused by their recent addition. The titles of the period reflect the prominent themes and trends. In addition to corroborating the keyword analysis, the title text confirms the relevance of the CCS and its most recent revision. By revealing current themes and trends in software engineering, this study provides some guidance to the developers of academic curricula and indicates directions for further research and study

NASA Tech Briefs, December 1991

Topics include: Electronic Components and Circuits. Electronic Systems, Physical Sciences, Materials, Computer Programs, Mechanics, Machinery, Fabrication Technology, Mathematics and Information Sciences

The performance in fire of restrained columns in steel-framed construction.

The University of Sheffield has a non-linear finite element analysis program called VULCAN which has been developed in-house over a number of years and has been thoroughly validated. A parametric study has been conducted using this software, which assesses the influence of such factors as load, geometric imperfection, material properties, temperature profile and axial and rotational restraint on the behaviour, of isolated steel columns in fire. This study is then extended to investigate the behaviour of steel columns as part of a larger multi-storey frame, in which axial restraint to thermal expansion of the heated column is provided by the floors above. A method of modelling these effects in VULCAN using a linear spring element to provide axial restraint has been developed and validated. An experimental partner project has been carried out at the University of Ulster, in which steel columns were furnace-tested with various levels of load, slenderness and axial restraint. These tests have been paralleled with analyses using VULCAN and a good correlation with test results has been shown. The VULCAN program was then used to examine the effects of parameters outside the range of the physical constraints imposed by the test facility. A numerical model, capable of assessing the level of axial restraint imparted on a column by a general multi-storey framed structure has been developed, which has a number of levels of complexity, each giving a higher degree of accuracy. Once the level of restraint for a structure has been assessed, the parametric studies and test data can be applied, and conclusions drawn about the behaviour of the frame. The applicability of different mathematical solution procedures to the analysis of these columns, which exhibit snap-through and snap-back behaviour, has been conducted. The arc-length method has been identified as applicable in such cases and a skeleton version of the procedure introduced into the VULCAN program. The program structure of VULCAN has been improved and the format for data input and output has been developed to allow flexibility. A graphical file-viewer program has also been created. Details of these changes are shown in appendices

NASA Tech Briefs, August 1994

Topics covered include: Computer Hardware; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Reports

NASA Tech Briefs, December 1989

Topics include: Electronic Components and Circuits. Electronic Systems, Physical Sciences, Materials, Computer Programs, Mechanics, Machinery, Fabrication Technology, Mathematics and Information Sciences, and Life Sciences

Comparative Evaluation of Generalized River/Reservoir System Models

This report reviews user-oriented generalized reservoir/river system models. The terms reservoir/river system, reservoir system, reservoir operation, or river basin management "model" or "modeling system" are used synonymously to refer to computer modeling systems that simulate the storage, flow, and diversion of water in a system of reservoirs and river reaches. Generalized means that a computer modeling system is designed for application to a range of concerns dealing with river basin systems of various configurations and locations, rather than being site-specific customized to a particular system. User-oriented implies the modeling system is designed for use by professional practitioners (model-users) other than the original model developers and is thoroughly tested and well documented. User-oriented generalized modeling systems should be convenient to obtain, understand, and use and should work correctly, completely, and efficiently. Modeling applications often involve a system of several simulation models, utility software products, and databases used in combination. A reservoir/river system model is itself a modeling system, which often serves as a component of a larger modeling system that may include watershed hydrology and river hydraulics models, water quality models, databases and various software tools for managing time series, spatial, and other types of data. Reservoir/river system models are based on volume-balance accounting procedures for tracking the movement of water through a system of reservoirs and river reaches. The model computes reservoir storage contents, evaporation, water supply withdrawals, hydroelectric energy generation, and river flows for specified system operating rules and input sequences of stream inflows and net evaporation rates. The hydrologic period-of-analysis and computational time step may vary greatly depending on the application. Storage and flow hydrograph ordinates for a flood event occurring over a few days may be determined at intervals of an hour or less. Water supply capabilities may be modeled with a monthly time step and several decade long period-of-analysis capturing the full range of fluctuating wet and dry periods including extended drought. Stream inflows are usually generated outside of the reservoir/river system model and provided as input to the model. However, reservoir/river system models may also include capabilities for modeling watershed precipitation-runoff processes to generate inflows to the river/reservoir system. Some reservoir/river system models simulate water quality constituents along with water quantities. Some models include features for economic evaluation of system performance based on cost and benefit functions expressed as a function of flow and storage