S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts

Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The tool’s functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed

Eristämismekanismeja selainpohjaisille ohjelmistoarkkitehtuureille

Traditional backend-oriented web applications are increasingly being replaced by frontend applications, which execute directly in the user's browser. Web application performance has been shown to directly affect business performance, and frontend applications enable unique performance improvements. However, building complex applications within the browser is still a new and poorly understood field, and engineering efforts within the field are often plagued by quality issues. This thesis addresses the current research gap around frontend applications, by investigating the applicability of isolation mechanisms available in browsers to frontend application architecture. We review the important publications around the topic, forming an overview of current research, and current best practices in the field. We use this understanding, combined with relevant industry experience, to categorize the available isolation mechanisms to four classes: state and variable isolation, isolation from the DOM, isolation within the DOM, and execution isolation. For each class, we provide background and concrete examples on both the related quality issues, as well as tools for their mitigation. Finally, we use the ISO 25010 quality standard to evaluate the impact of these isolation mechanisms on frontend application quality. Our results suggest that the application of the previously introduced isolation mechanisms has the potential to significantly improve several key areas of frontend application quality, most importantly compatibility and maintainability, but also performance and security. Many of these mechanisms also imply tradeoffs between other quality attributes, most commonly performance. Future work could include developing frontend application architectures that leverage these isolation mechanisms to their full potential.Perinteisiä palvelinorientoituneita verkko-ohjelmistoja korvataan kiihtyvällä vauhdilla selainpohjaisilla ohjelmistoilla. Verkko-ohjelmistojen suorituskyvyn on osoitettu vaikuttavan suoraan yritysten tulokseen, ja selainpohjaiset ohjelmistot mahdollistavat huomattavia parannuksia suorituskykyyn. Monimutkaisten selainpohjaisten ohjelmistojen rakentaminen on kuitenkin uusi ja huonosti ymmärretty ala, ja sillä tapahtuva kehitystyö on ollut laatuongelmien piinaamaa. Tässä diplomityössä täydennetään puutteellista tutkimusta selainpohjaisista ohjelmistoista tutkimalla selaimista löytyvien eristysmekanismien soveltuvuutta näiden ohjelmistojen arkkitehtuurin parantamiseen. Käymme läpi tärkeimmät alan julkaisut muodostaen yleiskuvan tutkimuksen tilasta ja parhaiksi katsotuista käytännöistä alan harjoittajien keskuudessa. Yhdistämällä kirjallisuuskatsauksen tulokset omaan työkokemukseemme alalta, luokittelemme selainten käytettävissä olevat eristysmekanismit neljään kategoriaan: tilan ja muuttujien eristäminen, eristäminen DOM:ista, eristäminen DOM:in sisällä sekä suorituksen eristäminen. Käsittelemme tämän jälkeen löydetyt kategoriat sekä esitämme niihin liittyviä konkreettisia laatuongelmia sekä työkaluja näiden ongelmien ratkaisuun. Lopuksi arvioimme näiden eristysmekanismien vaikutusta selainpohjaisten ohjelmistojen laatuun ISO 25010 -laatustandardin avulla. Tuloksemme osoittavat että työssä esitettyjen eristysmekanismien käyttö saattaisi parantaa ohjelmistojen laatua usealla tärkeällä alueella. Näistä merkittävimpiä ovat yhteensopivuus ja ylläpidettävyys, mutta hyötyjä voitaisiin saada myös suorituskyvyn sekä tietoturvan parantumisella. Toisaalta monet esitellyistä mekanismeista myös vaativat kompromisseja muiden laatuvaatimusten osalta. Jatkotutkimusta tarvittaisiin selainpohjaisista arkkitehtuureista, jotka hyödyntäisivät paremmin työssä esitettyjä eristysmekanismeja

A Taxonomy for a Constructive Approach to Software Evolution

In many software design and evaluation techniques, either the software evolution problem is not systematically elaborated, or only the impact of evolution is considered. Thus, most of the time software is changed by editing the components of the software system, i.e. breaking down the software system. The software engineering discipline provides many mechanisms that allow evolution without breaking down the system; however, the contexts where these mechanisms are applicable are not taken into account. Furthermore, the software design and evaluation techniques do not support identifying these contexts. In this paper, we provide a taxonomy of software evolution that can be used to identify the context of the evolution problem. The identified contexts are used to retrieve, from the software engineering discipline, the mechanisms, which can evolve the software software without breaking it down. To build such a taxonomy, we build a model for software evolution and use this model to identify the factors that effect the selection of software evolution\ud mechanisms. Our approach is based on solution sets, however; the contents of these sets may vary at different stages of the software life-cycle. To address this problem, we introduce perspectives; that are filters to select relevant elements from a solution set. We apply our taxonomy to a parser tool to show how it coped with problematic evolution problems

نظرية عمل الأمير ودورها في حفظ التوازن المالي في عقد الأشغال الدولي( الفيدك) (دراسة مقارنه)

This analysis has dealt with a very important subject which gained the attention of many people. The analysis was presented under the title of Theory Act Prince. The analysis aims at maintaining the financial stability of the international labour contract through conducting several researches on the Theory Act Prince and discussing its effects on International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) in the Palestinian atmosphere.Abstract This analysis has dealt with a very important subject which gained the attention of many people. The analysis was presented under the title of Theory Act Prince. The analysis aims at maintaining the financial stability of the international labour contract through conducting several researches on the Theory Act Prince and discussing its effects on International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) in the Palestinian atmosphere. The analysis concluded that the FIDIC has been dominated by geometric character rather than legal matters. Some concepts used in the analysis were confused with other legal concepts. This needs an urgent intervention to deal with this legal problem