Reusability in software engineering

This paper surveys recent work concerning reusability in software engineering. The current directions in software reusability are discussed, and the two major approaches of reusable building blocks and reusable patterns studied. An extensive bibliography, parts of which are annotated, is included

Architecture Specifications in CλaSH

This paper introduces CλaSH, a novel hardware specification environment, by discussing several non-trivial examples. CλaSH is based on the functional language Haskell, and exploits many of its powerful abstraction mechanisms such as higher order functions, polymorphism, lambda abstraction, pattern matching, type derivation. As a result, specifications in CλaSH are concise and semantically clear, and simulations can be directly executed within a Haskell evaluation environment. CλaSH generates synthesizable low-level VHDL code by applying several transformation rules to a functional specification of a digital circuit

Testing System Intelligence

We discuss the adequacy of tests for intelligent systems and practical problems raised by their implementation. We propose the replacement test as the ability of a system to replace successfully another system performing a task in a given context. We show how it can characterize salient aspects of human intelligence that cannot be taken into account by the Turing test. We argue that building intelligent systems passing the replacement test involves a series of technical problems that are outside the scope of current AI. We present a framework for implementing the proposed test and validating the properties of the intelligent systems. We discuss the inherent limitations of intelligent system validation and advocate new theoretical foundations for extending existing rigorous test methods. We suggest that the replacement test, based on the complementarity of skills between human and machine, can lead to a multitude of intelligence concepts reflecting the ability to combine data-based and symbolic knowledge to varying degrees

Antecedents of innovation in organisations : a gender perspective

Abstract: Background: A plethora of evidence suggests that innovation is central to organisational survival. Whilst most research points to gender diversity being useful in fostering innovation, the difference in the way men and women perceive the workplace, and the impact of these perceptions on their innovative work behaviour, are less pronounced. Aim: This research aims to assess the meaning men and women attach to organisational variables and the impact thereof on innovation. In identifying the gender-specific antecedents to innovative work behaviour, business leaders could adjust the workplace in order to optimise innovation in the workplace. Setting: Employed men and women, across several South African organisations, capable of reporting on their perception of the workplace, were included in the study. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data on innovative work behaviour and acknowledged antecedents thereto. After eliminating instruments which were not measurement-invariant, the relationships between the variables were assessed. Results: Men perceived more support to innovate, and were marginally more innovative than women. When using instruments which were measurement-invariant, no practical significant differences in the relationships between innovation and its antecedents were found. Conclusion: While gender diversity may influence innovation in teams, gender matters little at an individual level. Men and women therefore react similarly to organisational forces. Managerial implications: Men and women react in a similar way to the variables included in the study, and the relationships between these variables are comparable across gender. Gender differentiation in arranging the work environment is therefore unwarranted. Contribution: This research presents empirical data enlightening a current socio-political matter, dealing with gender at an individual rather than at a collective level, applying state of the art methods, and concluding that at an individual level, men and women react to the workplace in no dissimilar manner.Ph.D. (Leadership in Performance and Change

A survey of program transformation with special reference to unfold/fold style program development

This paper consists of a survey of current, and past, work on *program transformation* for the purpose of optimization. We first discuss some of the general methodological frameworks for program modification, such as *analogy*, *explanation based learning*, *partial evaluation*, *proof theoretic optimization*, and the *unfold/fold* technique. These frameworks are not mutually exclusive, and the latter, unfold/fold, is certainly the most widely used technique, in various guises, for program transformation. Thus we shall often have occasion to: compare the relative merits of systems that employ the technique in some form, *and*; compare the unfold/fold systems with those that employ alternative techniques. We also include (and compare with unfold/fold) a brief survey of recent work concerning the use of *formal methods* for program transformation

Language Convergence Infrastructure

The process of grammar convergence involves grammar extraction and transformation for structural equivalence and contains a range of technical challenges. These need to be addressed in order for the method to deliver useful results. The paper describes a DSL and the infrastructure behind it that automates the convergence process, hides negligible back-en