Application Software, Domain-Specific Languages, and Language Design Assistants

While application software does the real work, domain-specific languages (DSLs) are tools to help produce it efficiently, and language design assistants in turn are meta-tools to help produce DSLs quickly. DSLs are already in wide use (HTML for web pages, Excel macros for spreadsheet applications, VHDL for hardware design, ...), but many more will be needed for both new as well as existing application domains. Language design assistants to help develop them currently exist only in the basic form of language development systems. After a quick look at domain-specific languages, and especially their relationship to application libraries, we survey existing language development systems and give an outline of future language design assistants.Comment: To be presented at SSGRR 2000, L'Aquila, Ital

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

Graph Algorithm Animation with Grrr

We discuss geometric positioning, highlighting of visited nodes and user defined highlighting that form the algorithm animation facilities in the Grrr graph rewriting programming language. The main purpose of animation was initially for the debugging and profiling of Grrr code, but recently it has been extended for the purpose of teaching algorithms to undergraduate students. The animation is restricted to graph based algorithms such as graph drawing, list manipulation or more traditional graph theory. The visual nature of the Grrr system allows much animation to be gained for free, with no extra user effort beyond the coding of the algorithm, but we also discuss user defined animations, where custom algorithm visualisations can be explicitly defined for teaching and demonstration purposes

Somoclu: An Efficient Parallel Library for Self-Organizing Maps

Somoclu is a massively parallel tool for training self-organizing maps on large data sets written in C++. It builds on OpenMP for multicore execution, and on MPI for distributing the workload across the nodes in a cluster. It is also able to boost training by using CUDA if graphics processing units are available. A sparse kernel is included, which is useful for high-dimensional but sparse data, such as the vector spaces common in text mining workflows. Python, R and MATLAB interfaces facilitate interactive use. Apart from fast execution, memory use is highly optimized, enabling training large emergent maps even on a single computer.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. The code is available at https://peterwittek.github.io/somoclu

Methodological development

Book description: Human-Computer Interaction draws on the fields of computer science, psychology, cognitive science, and organisational and social sciences in order to understand how people use and experience interactive technology. Until now, researchers have been forced to return to the individual subjects to learn about research methods and how to adapt them to the particular challenges of HCI. This is the first book to provide a single resource through which a range of commonly used research methods in HCI are introduced. Chapters are authored by internationally leading HCI researchers who use examples from their own work to illustrate how the methods apply in an HCI context. Each chapter also contains key references to help researchers find out more about each method as it has been used in HCI. Topics covered include experimental design, use of eyetracking, qualitative research methods, cognitive modelling, how to develop new methodologies and writing up your research

Development of Comprehensive Devnagari Numeral and Character Database for Offline Handwritten Character Recognition

In handwritten character recognition, benchmark database plays an important role in evaluating the performance of various algorithms and the results obtained by various researchers. In Devnagari script, there is lack of such official benchmark. This paper focuses on the generation of offline benchmark database for Devnagari handwritten numerals and characters. The present work generated 5137 and 20305 isolated samples for numeral and character database, respectively, from 750 writers of all ages, sex, education, and profession. The offline sample images are stored in TIFF image format as it occupies less memory. Also, the data is presented in binary level so that memory requirement is further reduced. It will facilitate research on handwriting recognition of Devnagari script through free access to the researchers.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures, journal pape