Analyzing software data bindings in large-scale systems

One central feature of the structure of a software system is the coupling among its components (e.g., subsystems. modules) and the cohesion within them. The purpose of this study is to quantify ratios of coupling and cohesion and use them in the generation of hierarchical system descriptions. The ability of the hierarchical descriptions to localize errors by identifying error-prone system structure is evaluated using actual error data. Measures of data interaction, called data bindings, are used as the basis for calculating software coupling and cohesion. A 135,000 source line system from a production environment has been selected for empirical analysis. Software error data was collected from high-level system design through system test and from some field operation of the system. A set of five tools is applied to calculate the data bindings automatically, and cluster analysis is used to determine a hierarchical description of each of the system's 77 subsystems. An analysis of variance model is used to characterize subsystems and individual routines that had either many/few errors or high/low error correction effort

Calculation and use of an environment's characteristic software metric set

Since both cost/quality and production environments differ, this study presents an approach for customizing a characteristic set of software metrics to an environment. The approach is applied in the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL), a NASA Goddard production environment, to 49 candidate process and product metrics of 652 modules from six (51,000 to 112,000 lines) projects. For this particular environment, the method yielded the characteristic metric set (source lines, fault correction effort per executable statement, design effort, code effort, number of I/O parameters, number of versions). The uses examined for a characteristic metric set include forecasting the effort for development, modification, and fault correction of modules based on historical data

Encourage them to learn: Case Study of Fictitious Product and Virtual Market in Marketing Communications Degree Course

At the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS Prague) a wide range of marketing courses are taught, covering many aspects of marketing theory. The curriculum of the majority of marketing courses consists of case studies and project work in teams. The students in their MSc. studies have five marketing subjects in total, and work with different teachers, though the same teaching approach and design (project teaching) is used. In this article, we present the results of a new design for the Marketing Communications course. In this case, students are engaged in designing a real package for a fictitious product, and to enter a virtual market using a wide range of promotional tools. The students then debrief the entire experience as consumers in that virtual market. The course uses a mix of traditional and contemporary teaching techniques in the field of marketing communications. It can be used in traditional or blended learning or adapted for online courses. The innovative course design has been shown to be a key factor to stimulate the students to learn, rather than simply study and repeat their lectures. The learning efficiency compares favourably with the original course design

AN ATTEMPT ON NEW SYSTEMATIZATION OF WORK MOTIVATION THEORIES

The paper deals with a semiotic analysis of work motivation theories developed in the second half of the twentieth century. These theories stem from different theoretical backgrounds, varying in ideas as well as in their impact to work motivation reality. For a student approaching this field it might seem to provide an overwhelming situation in an area of study filled with contradictory theories. The method used in this study is similar to one historians use when analysing development in a human society - semiotic analysis. Based on the historical analysis, an analysis of ideas and clusters of meanings follows. Authors assume that personal experience might determine individual motivation factors. It is quite clear, that on the biological level the processes of motivation should be the same in all humans. However, stimuli or conditions under which the processes of motivation are commenced might be caused by the personal experience of the individuals concerned. Authors believe that the above mentioned analysis of clusters of meaning could help us to better systemize the wide range of work motivation theories and make it more evident for all students of the field

SOME ASPECTS OF THE ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF TWO CANCER SPECIES

96 pagesAs a commercially exploited species the Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister, has generated a fairly large, unconsolidated body of literature. Initial research undertaken in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California dealt with general biology and the fishery, with the goal of determining the adequacy of fishery regulations. At that time no danger of overfishing was thought to exist, although fishery effort was intensifying (Cleaver 1949). A number of authors also noted a coastwide cycling in abundance of crab landings. However, after the 1960-1961 season the central California fishery did not recover from low levels of abundance associated with a cyclic minimum. Concern for this fishery prompted a new wave of investigations of population dynamics, making use of recent ecological theory, computer analysis and modeling techniques. The possibility that the fishery could alter natural population cycles, resulting in drastically lowered population levels throughout the species' range, was suggested. The purpose of this paper is critically to review the ecology and exploitation of magister using the information gathered throughout the last 60 year

Next generation software environments : principles, problems, and research directions

The past decade has seen a burgeoning of research and development in software environments. Conferences have been devoted to the topic of practical environments, journal papers produced, and commercial systems sold. Given all the activity, one might expect a great deal of consensus on issues, approaches, and techniques. This is not the case, however. Indeed, the term "environment" is still used in a variety of conflicting ways. Nevertheless substantial progress has been made and we are at least nearing consensus on many critical issues.The purpose of this paper is to characterize environments, describe several important principles that have emerged in the last decade or so, note current open problems, and describe some approaches to these problems, with particular emphasis on the activities of one large-scale research program, the Arcadia project. Consideration is also given to two related topics: empirical evaluation and technology transition. That is, how can environments and their constituents be evaluated, and how can new developments be moved effectively into the production sector