Distributed and Collaborative Software Evolution Analysis with Churrasco

AbstractAnalyzing the evolution of large and long-lived software systems is a complex problem that requires extensive tool support due to the amount and complexity of the data that needs to be processed. In this paper, we present Churrasco, a tool to support collaborative software evolution analysis through a web interface. After describing the tool and its architecture, we provide a usage scenario of Churrasco on a large open source software system, and we present two collaboration experiments performed with, respectively, 8 and 4 participants

Deuce: A Lightweight User Interface for Structured Editing

We present a structure-aware code editor, called Deuce, that is equipped with direct manipulation capabilities for invoking automated program transformations. Compared to traditional refactoring environments, Deuce employs a direct manipulation interface that is tightly integrated within a text-based editing workflow. In particular, Deuce draws (i) clickable widgets atop the source code that allow the user to structurally select the unstructured text for subexpressions and other relevant features, and (ii) a lightweight, interactive menu of potential transformations based on the current selections. We implement and evaluate our design with mostly standard transformations in the context of a small functional programming language. A controlled user study with 21 participants demonstrates that structural selection is preferred to a more traditional text-selection interface and may be faster overall once users gain experience with the tool. These results accord with Deuce's aim to provide human-friendly structural interactions on top of familiar text-based editing.Comment: ICSE 2018 Paper + Supplementary Appendice

On porting software visualization tools to the web

Software systems are hard to understand due to the complexity and the sheer size of the data to be analyzed. Software visualization tools are a great help as they can sum up large quantities of data in dense, meaningful pictures. Traditionally, such tools come in the form of desktop applications. Modern web frameworks are about to change this status quo, as building software visualization tools as web applications can help in making them available to a larger audience in a collaborative setting. Such a migration comes with a number of promises, perils, and technical implications that must be considered before starting any migration process. In this paper, we share our experiences in porting two such tools to the web and provide guidelines about the porting. In particular, we discuss promises and perils that go hand in hand with such an endeavor and present a number of technological alternatives that are available to implement web-based visualization

Modular Moose: A new generation software reverse engineering environment

Advanced reverse engineering tools are required to cope with the complexity of software systems and the specific requirements of numerous different tasks (re-architecturing, migration, evolution). Consequently, reverse engineering tools should adapt to a wide range of situations. Yet, because they require a large infrastructure investment, being able to reuse these tools is key. Moose is a reverse engineering environment answering these requirements. While Moose started as a research project 20 years ago, it is also used in industrial projects, exposing itself to all these difficulties. In this paper we present ModMoose, the new version of Moose. ModMoose revolves around a new meta-model, modular and extensible; a new toolset of generic tools (query module, visualization engine, ...); and an open architecture supporting the synchronization and interaction of tools per task. With ModMoose, tool developers can develop specific meta-models by reusing existing elementary concepts, and dedicated reverse engineering tools that can interact with the existing ones

Geometric Modeling of Cellular Materials for Additive Manufacturing in Biomedical Field: A Review

Advances in additive manufacturing technologies facilitate the fabrication of cellular materials that have tailored functional characteristics. The application of solid freeform fabrication techniques is especially exploited in designing scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this review, firstly, a classification of cellular materials from a geometric point of view is proposed; then, the main approaches on geometric modeling of cellular materials are discussed. Finally, an investigation on porous scaffolds fabricated by additive manufacturing technologies is pointed out. Perspectives in geometric modeling of scaffolds for tissue engineering are also proposed

Research and Development Workstation Environment: the new class of Current Research Information Systems

Against the backdrop of the development of modern technologies in the field of scientific research the new class of Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) and related intelligent information technologies has arisen. It was called - Research and Development Workstation Environment (RDWE) - the comprehensive problem-oriented information systems for scientific research and development lifecycle support. The given paper describes design and development fundamentals of the RDWE class systems. The RDWE class system's generalized information model is represented in the article as a three-tuple composite web service that include: a set of atomic web services, each of them can be designed and developed as a microservice or a desktop application, that allows them to be used as an independent software separately; a set of functions, the functional filling-up of the Research and Development Workstation Environment; a subset of atomic web services that are required to implement function of composite web service. In accordance with the fundamental information model of the RDWE class the system for supporting research in the field of ontology engineering - the automated building of applied ontology in an arbitrary domain area, scientific and technical creativity - the automated preparation of application documents for patenting inventions in Ukraine was developed. It was called - Personal Research Information System. A distinctive feature of such systems is the possibility of their problematic orientation to various types of scientific activities by combining on a variety of functional services and adding new ones within the cloud integrated environment. The main results of our work are focused on enhancing the effectiveness of the scientist's research and development lifecycle in the arbitrary domain area.Comment: In English, 13 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, added references in Russian. Published. Prepared for special issue (UkrPROG 2018 conference) of the scientific journal "Problems of programming" (Founder: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Software Systems of NAS Ukraine

Web-based user interface prototyping and simulation

PVSio-web is a platform for the simulation and prototyping of user interfaces that has been developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London. This platform aims to reduce barriers to the use of PVS by users unfamiliar with formal methods. The main features of PVSio-web focus on creating, opening and saving projects, loading images and creating widget areas over them, and not least, editing PVS files. Editing files is limited to only one file per project and the platform also does not have image editing features. PVSio-web can then be improved by implementing features to support editing multiple files and images (such as cropping and resizing). The interaction areas can also be improved to thereby enhance the quality of the prototype, by adjusting the precision of the dimensions and positioning of the area relatively to the image. In this dissertation the improvements achieved on the editing of files, images and interaction areas in PVSio-web, in order to increase the quality and optimize its use in a real environment, are described.PVSio-web é uma plataforma para prototipagem e simulação de interfaces de utilizador que tem vindo a ser desenvolvida por investigadores da Queen Mary Universidade de Londres. Esta plataforma tem por objectivo diminuir as barreiras à utilização do PVS por parte de utilizadores não familiarizados com métodos formais. Para dar suporte à criação de protótipos, o PVSio-web possui funcionalidades para criar, abrir e gravar projectos, carregar de imagens e definir áreas de interação sobre esta e, não menos importante, edição de ficheiros PVS. A edição de ficheiros está limitada a apenas um único ficheiro por projecto e a plataforma não possui também funcionalidades de edição de imagem. O PVSio-web pode então ser melhorado com a implementação de funcionalidades para o suporte de edição de múltiplos ficheiros e de imagem (por exemplo corte e redimensionamento). As áreas de interação podem também ser melhoradas para assim aumentar a qualidade do protótipo, ajustando a precisão das dimensões e posicionamento da área em relação à imagem. Nesta dissertação são descritos os melhoramentos realizados a nível de edição de ficheiros, imagens e áreas de interação no PVSio-web de modo a aumentar a qualidade e otimizar o seu uso em ambiente real