Strategic Directions in Object-Oriented Programming

This paper has provided an overview of the field of object-oriented programming. After presenting a historical perspective and some major achievements in the field, four research directions were introduced: technologies integration, software components, distributed programming, and new paradigms. In general there is a need to continue research in traditional areas:\ud (1) as computer systems become more and more complex, there is a need to further develop the work on architecture and design; \ud (2) to support the development of complex systems, there is a need for better languages, environments, and tools; \ud (3) foundations in the form of the conceptual framework and other theories must be extended to enhance the means for modeling and formal analysis, as well as for understanding future computer systems

Analysis and Synthesis of Metadata Goals for Scientific Data

The proliferation of discipline-specific metadata schemes contributes to artificial barriers that can impede interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The authors considered this problem by examining the domains, objectives, and architectures of nine metadata schemes used to document scientific data in the physical, life, and social sciences. They used a mixed-methods content analysis and Greenberg’s (2005) metadata objectives, principles, domains, and architectural layout (MODAL) framework, and derived 22 metadata-related goals from textual content describing each metadata scheme. Relationships are identified between the domains (e.g., scientific discipline and type of data) and the categories of scheme objectives. For each strong correlation (\u3e0.6), a Fisher’s exact test for nonparametric data was used to determine significance (p \u3c .05). Significant relationships were found between the domains and objectives of the schemes. Schemes describing observational data are more likely to have “scheme harmonization” (compatibility and interoperability with related schemes) as an objective; schemes with the objective “abstraction” (a conceptual model exists separate from the technical implementation) also have the objective “sufficiency” (the scheme defines a minimal amount of information to meet the needs of the community); and schemes with the objective “data publication” do not have the objective “element refinement.” The analysis indicates that many metadata-driven goals expressed by communities are independent of scientific discipline or the type of data, although they are constrained by historical community practices and workflows as well as the technological environment at the time of scheme creation. The analysis reveals 11 fundamental metadata goals for metadata documenting scientific data in support of sharing research data across disciplines and domains. The authors report these results and highlight the need for more metadata-related research, particularly in the context of recent funding agency policy changes

Mediating between Services and Learning Activities – the User Perspective

We reflect upon the LADIE project’s experience of migrating a concept of user requirements from the teaching practitioner community to the technical developer community in the light of literature on ‘mediating representations’ and ‘mediating artefacts’. We show that the practical operation of mediating representations is far more complex than previously acknowledged. We suggest that communities need to overlap, allowing reciprocal communication, to migrate concepts via a representation. If they do not, a chain of intermediate representations and communities may be necessary. Finally, we draw a tentative distinction between mediating representations and mediating artefacts, based not in the nature of the resources, but in their mode and context of use

Conformity, deformity and reformity

In any given field of artistic practice, practitioners position themselves—or find themselves positioned—according to interests and allegiances with specific movements, genres, and traditions. Selecting particular frameworks through which to approach the development of new ideas, patterns and expressions, balance is invariably maintained between the desire to contribute towards and connect with a particular set of domain conventions, whilst at the same time developing distinction and recognition as a creative individual. Creativity through the constraints of artistic domain, discipline and style provides a basis for consideration of notions of originality in the context of activity primarily associated with reconfiguration, manipulation and reorganisation of existing elements and ideas. Drawing from postmodern and post-structuralist perspectives in the analysis of modern hybrid art forms and the emergence of virtual creative environments, the transition from traditional artistic practice and notions of craft and creation, to creative spaces in which elements are manipulated, mutated, combined and distorted with often frivolous or subversive intent are considered. This paper presents an educational and musically focused perspective of the relationship between the individual and domain-based creative practice. Drawing primarily from musical and audio-visual examples with particular interest in creative disruption of pre-existing elements, creative strategies of appropriation and recycling are explored in the context of music composition and production. Conclusions focus on the interpretation of creativity as essentially a process of recombination and manipulation and highlight how the relationship between artist and field of practice creates unique creative spaces through which new ideas emerge

Why do some fish fight more than others?

Reversible changes in how readily animals fight can be explained in terms of adaptive responses to differences in the costs and benefits of fighting. In contrast, long-term differences in aggressiveness raise a number of questions, including why animals are consistent with respect to this trait, why aggressiveness is often linked to general risk taking, and why aggressive and nonaggressive animals often coexist within a population. In fish, different levels of aggressiveness bring several direct fitness-related consequences, such as when aggressive individuals monopolize a limited food supply and grow fast. They also bring indirect consequences, such as when aggressive fish are more susceptible to predation and when they require a larger respiratory surface to service a higher metabolic rate. Fitness consequences of aggressiveness are often context dependent, with aggressive fish tending to do well in simple, predictable conditions but not in complex, less predictable conditions. The diverse, context-dependent consequences of aggression mean that aggressive and nonaggressive fish flourish in different conditions and explain in general terms why these behavioral phenotypes often coexist. There are a number of candidate evolutionary frameworks for explaining why individual differences in aggressiveness are often, but not always, consistent over time and often, but not always, linked to differences in general risk taking

UML-F: A Modeling Language for Object-Oriented Frameworks

The paper presents the essential features of a new member of the UML language family that supports working with object-oriented frameworks. This UML extension, called UML-F, allows the explicit representation of framework variation points. The paper discusses some of the relevant aspects of UML-F, which is based on standard UML extension mechanisms. A case study shows how it can be used to assist framework development. A discussion of additional tools for automating framework implementation and instantiation rounds out the paper.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure