Developing a Generic Debugger for Advanced-Dispatching Languages

Programming-language research has introduced a considerable number of advanced-dispatching mechanisms in order to improve modularity. Advanced-dispatching mechanisms allow changing the behavior of a function without modifying their call sites and thus make the local behavior of code less comprehensible. Debuggers are tools, thus needed, which can help a developer to comprehend program behavior but current debuggers do not provide inspection of advanced-\ud dispatching-related language constructs. In this paper, we present a debugger which extends a traditional Java debugger with the ability of debugging an advanced-dispatching language constructs and a user interface for inspecting this

Investigating Effective Inspection of Object-Oriented Code

Since the development of software inspection over twenty-five years ago it has become established as an effective means of detecting defects. Inspections were originally developed at a time when the procedural paradigm was dominant but, with the Object- Oriented (OO) paradigm growing in influence and use, there now exists a lack of guidance on how to apply inspections to OO systems. Object-oriented and procedural languages differ not only in their syntax but also in a number of more profound ways - the encapsulation of data and associated functionality, the common use of inheritance, and the concepts of polymorphism and dynamic binding. These factors influence the way that modules (classes) are created in OO systems, which in turn influences the way that OO systems are structured and execute. Failure to take this into account may hinder the application of inspections to OO code. This thesis shows that the way in which the objectoriented paradigm distributes related functionality can have a serious impact on code inspection and, to address this problem, it develops and empirically evaluates three code reading techniques

Quality definitions and defect classes used in experiments on software inspection

I oppgaven er det analysert 15 artikler om software inspection, med mål å finne ut hvordan kvalitet og defekt klasser er definert i disse artiklene

An application of machine learning to the organization of institutional software repositories

Software reuse has become a major goal in the development of space systems, as a recent NASA-wide workshop on the subject made clear. The Data Systems Technology Division of Goddard Space Flight Center has been working on tools and techniques for promoting reuse, in particular in the development of satellite ground support software. One of these tools is the Experiment in Libraries via Incremental Schemata and Cobweb (ElvisC). ElvisC applies machine learning to the problem of organizing a reusable software component library for efficient and reliable retrieval. In this paper we describe the background factors that have motivated this work, present the design of the system, and evaluate the results of its application

Developing a catalogue of errors and evaluating its impact on software development

The development of quality software is of paramount importance, yet this has been and continues to be an elusive goal for software engineers. Delivered software often fails due to errors that are injected during its development. Correcting these errors early in the development or preventing them altogether can, therefore, be considered as one way to improve software quality. In this thesis, the development of a Catalogue of Errors is described. Field studies with senior software engineering students are used to confirm that developers using the Catalogue of Errors commit fewer errors in their development artifacts. The impact of the Catalogue of Errors on productivity is also examined

Experimental Evaluation of a Checklist-Based Inspection Technique to Verify the Compliance of Software Systems with the Brazilian General Data Protection Law

Recent laws to ensure the security and protection of personal data establish new software requirements. Consequently, new technologies are needed to guarantee software quality under the perception of privacy and protection of personal data. Therefore, we created a checklist-based inspection technique (LGPDCheck) to support the identification of defects in software artifacts based on the principles established by the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD). Objective/Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of LGPDCheck for verifying privacy and data protection (PDP) in software artifacts compared to ad-hoc techniques. Method: To assess LGPDCheck and ad-hoc techniques experimentally through a quasi-experiment (two factors, five treatments). The data will be collected from IoT-based health software systems built by software engineering students from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The data analyses will compare results from ad-hoc and LGPDCheck inspections, the participant's effectiveness and efficiency in each trial, defects' variance and standard deviation, and time spent with the reviews. The data will be screened for outliers, and normality and homoscedasticity will be verified using the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests. Nonparametric or parametric tests, such as the Wilcoxon or Student's t-tests, will be applied as appropriate.Comment: Registered Report accepted for presentation at 17th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement. New Orleans, Louisiana, United State

Reproducible Econometric Research. A Critical Review of the State of the Art.

Recent software developments are reviewed from the vantage point of reproducible econometric research. We argue that the emergence of new tools, particularly in the open-source community, have greatly eased the burden of documenting and archiving both empirical and simulation work in econometrics. Some of these tools are highlighted in the discussion of three small replication exercises.Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematic

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Pattern languages in HCI: A critical review

This article presents a critical review of patterns and pattern languages in human-computer interaction (HCI). In recent years, patterns and pattern languages have received considerable attention in HCI for their potential as a means for developing and communicating information and knowledge to support good design. This review examines the background to patterns and pattern languages in HCI, and seeks to locate pattern languages in relation to other approaches to interaction design. The review explores four key issues: What is a pattern? What is a pattern language? How are patterns and pattern languages used? and How are values reflected in the pattern-based approach to design? Following on from the review, a future research agenda is proposed for patterns and pattern languages in HCI