Model-based Adaptation of Behavioural Mismatching Components

International audienceComponent-Based Software Engineering focuses on the reuse of existing software components. In practice, most components cannot be integrated directly into an application-to-be, because they are incompatible. Software Adaptation aims at generating, as automatically as possible, adaptors to compensate mismatch between component interfaces, and is therefore a promising solution for the development of a real market of components promoting software reuse. In this article, we present our approach for software adaptation which relies on an abstract notation based on synchronous vectors and transition systems for governing adaptation rules. Our proposal is supported by dedicated algorithms that generate automatically adaptor protocols. These algorithms have been implemented in a tool, called Adaptor, that can be used through a user-friendly graphical interface

A Pattern-based Approach towards Modular Safety Analysis and Argumentation

International audienceSafety standards recommend (if not dictate) performing many analyses during the concept phase of development as well as the early adoption of multiple measures at the architectural design level. In practice, the reuse of architectural measures or safety mechanisms is widely-spread, especially in well-understood domains, as is reusing the corresponding safety-cases aiming to document and prove the fulfillment of the underlying safety goals. Safety-cases in the automotive domain are not well-integrated into architectural models and as such do not provide comprehensible and reproducible argumentation nor any evidence for argument correctness. The reuse is mostly ad-hoc, with loss of knowledge and traceability and lack of consistency or process maturity as well as being the most widely spread and cited drawbacks.Using a simplified description of software functions and their most common error management subtypes (avoidance, detection, handling, ..) we propose to define a pattern library covering known solution algorithms and architectural measures/constraints in a seamless holistic model-based approach with corresponding tool support. The pattern libraries would comprise the requirement the pattern covers and the architecture elements/ measures / constraints required and may include deployment or scheduling strategies as well as the supporting safety case template, which would then be integrated into existing development environments. This paper explores this approach using an illustrative example

Software Reuse in Agile Development Organizations - A Conceptual Management Tool

The reuse of knowledge is considered a major factor for increasing productivity and quality. In the software industry knowledge is embodied in software assets such as code components, functional designs and test cases. This kind of knowledge reuse is also referred to as software reuse. Although the benefits can be substantial, software reuse has never reached its full potential. Organizations are not aware of the different levels of reuse or do not know how to address reuse issues. This paper proposes a conceptual management tool for supporting software reuse. Furthermore the paper presents the findings of the application of the management tool in an agile development organization

ICOPER Project - Deliverable 4.3 ISURE: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, embodied in the ICOPER CD&R

The purpose of this document is to capture the ideas and recommendations, within and beyond the ICOPER community, concerning the reuse of learning content, including appropriate methodologies as well as established strategies for remixing and repurposing reusable resources. The overall remit of this work focuses on describing the key issues that are related to extending effective reuse embodied in such materials. The objective of this investigation, is to support the reuse of learning content whilst considering how it could be originally created and then adapted with that ‘reuse’ in mind. In these circumstances a survey on effective reuse best practices can often provide an insight into the main challenges and benefits involved in the process of creating, remixing and repurposing what we are now designating as Reusable Learning Content (RLC). Several key issues are analysed in this report: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, building upon those described in the previous related deliverables 4.1 Content Development Methodologies and 4.2 Quality Control and Web 2.0 technologies. The findings of this current survey, however, provide further recommendations and strategies for using and developing this reusable learning content. In the spirit of ‘reuse’, this work also aims to serve as a foundation for the many different stakeholders and users within, and beyond, the ICOPER community who are interested in reusing learning resources. This report analyses a variety of information. Evidence has been gathered from a qualitative survey that has focused on the technical and pedagogical recommendations suggested by a Special Interest Group (SIG) on the most innovative practices with respect to new media content authors (for content authoring or modification) and course designers (for unit creation). This extended community includes a wider collection of OER specialists. This collected evidence, in the form of video and audio interviews, has also been represented as multimedia assets potentially helpful for learning and useful as learning content in the New Media Space (See section 4 for further details). Section 2 of this report introduces the concept of reusable learning content and reusability. Section 3 discusses an application created by the ICOPER community to enhance the opportunities for developing reusable content. Section 4 of this report provides an overview of the methodology used for the qualitative survey. Section 5 presents a summary of thematic findings. Section 6 highlights a list of recommendations for effective reuse of educational content, which were derived from thematic analysis described in Appendix A. Finally, section 7 summarises the key outcomes of this work

Learning Design and Service Oriented Architectures:a mutual dependency?

This paper looks at how the concept of reusability has gained currency in e-learning. Initial attention was focused on reuse of content, but recently attention has focused on reusable software tools and reusable activity structures. The former has led to the proposal of service-oriented architectures, and the latter has seen the development of the Learning Design specification. The authors suggest that there is a mutual dependency between the success of these two approaches, as complex Learning Designs require the ability to call on a range of tools, while remaining technology neutral. The paper describes a project at the UK Open University, SLeD, which sought to develop a Learning Design player that would utilise the service-oriented approach. This acted both as a means of exploring some of the issues implicit within both approaches and also provided a practical tool. The SLeD system was successfully implemented in a different university, Liverpool Hope, demonstrating some of the principles of re-use

Can Component/Service-Based Systems Be Proved Correct?

Component-oriented and service-oriented approaches have gained a strong enthusiasm in industries and academia with a particular interest for service-oriented approaches. A component is a software entity with given functionalities, made available by a provider, and used to build other application within which it is integrated. The service concept and its use in web-based application development have a huge impact on reuse practices. Accordingly a considerable part of software architectures is influenced; these architectures are moving towards service-oriented architectures. Therefore applications (re)use services that are available elsewhere and many applications interact, without knowing each other, using services available via service servers and their published interfaces and functionalities. Industries propose, through various consortium, languages, technologies and standards. More academic works are also undertaken concerning semantics and formalisation of components and service-based systems. We consider here both streams of works in order to raise research concerns that will help in building quality software. Are there new challenging problems with respect to service-based software construction? Besides, what are the links and the advances compared to distributed systems?Comment: 16 page

Decision Support System for Planning of integrated Water Reuse Projects

The availability of fresh water supplies throughout the world has been getting scarcer over the past several decades, leading to existing or impending water shortages in many regions. In this context, water reuse has emerged as a genuine and reliable alternative that can be used to supplement, and in some cases substitute traditional water sources. The practice of water reclamation and reuse has developed tremendously in the last century. With the rate of growth projected to increase even further, water reuse schemes of larger size will have to be planned, addressing an ever expanding list of technological, environmental, social and financial considerations. Therefore, decision support systems (DSS) are acutely needed to assist the planners of future water reuse schemes. The DSS developed in this thesis and embodied in the WTRNet (Water Treatment for Reuse with Network Distribution) software tool takes into account the interactions that exist between the individual schemes components (treatment trains, distribution system and end-users of reclaimed water) in evaluation and selection of most promising design alternatives. Comprising of a simulation and optimisation components, the DSS provides a user-friendly platform for evaluation and optimisation of integrated water reuse schemes. The numbers of potential design alternatives for schemes of different size are determined, and are shown to be substantially reduced by using rules that determine feasible treatment trains. Optimisation algorithms appropriate for schemes of different size are developed and tested on case studies to verify the DSS, which includes a novel and efficient linear programming methodology of least-cost sizing of reclaimed water distribution systems. The benefits of evaluation in the proposed manner are demonstrated by deriving optimal water reuse schemes for the City of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The results of application of WTRNet on the case study indicate that the selection of optimal treatment alternatives based on different criteria has potentially significant effect on the cost of optimal alternatives, and that the selection of end-users requires a structured approach that takes into account factors other than their demand and location relative to the source