Society

Research and Advances Jul 1 1989

Intelligent interactive video simulation of a code inspection

The need for technological solutions to learning, in the software engineering field is increasing. The Advanced Learning Technologies Project (ALT) has developed a highly interactive, high-fidelity simulation of group process communication. The first course demonstrating these techniques is on the formal technical review known as code inspection.

Scott M. Stevens

Research and Advances Jul 1 1989

DVI—a digital multimedia technology

A digital presentation technology that manages anything from text to full-motion video has the potential of expanding the usefulness of personal computers, while rendering them less intimidating.

G. David Ripley

Research and Advances Jul 1 1989

Life before the chips: simulating digital video interactive technology

Advances in computers, such as DVI technology, are driven by new hardware functionality—more magic in the silicon. But before the chips came the ideas, and years of visual and interactive technical simulations to evaluate product designs and build the support necessary to develop them.

Douglas Dixon

Opinion Jun 1 1989

An interview with Ivan Sutherland

Karen A. Frenkel

Research and Advances Jun 1 1989

Password cracking: a game of wits

The following report has been gleaned from "A Tour of the Worm," an in-depth account of the November Internet infection. The author found the worm's crypt algorithm a frustrating, yet engaging, puzzle.

Donn Seeley

Research and Advances Jun 1 1989

With microscope and tweezers: the worm from MIT’s perspective

The actions taken by a group of computer scientists at MIT during the worm invasion represents a study of human response to a crisis. The authors also relate the experiences and reactions of other groups throughout the country, especially in terms of how they interacted with the MIT team.

Jon A. Rochlis and Mark W. Eichin

Research and Advances Jun 1 1989

The Cornell commission: on Morris and the worm

After careful examination of the evidence, the Cornell commission publishes its findings in a detailed report that sheds new light and dispels some myths about Robert T. Morris and the Internet worm.

Research and Advances Jun 1 1989

Crisis and aftermath

Last November the Internet was infected with a worm program that eventually spread to thousands of machines, disrupting normal activities and Internet connectivity for many days. The following article examines just how this worm operated.

E. H. Spafford

Research and Advances May 1 1989

Computer hardware performance: production and cost function analyses

Based on microeconomics, computer hardware performance is analyzed using two methods. For the cost function analysis, both purchase and lease prices are used. The results show no economies of scale for the mainframes and superminis during the 1981-1985 period.

Y. M. Kang

Research and Advances May 1 1989

The SEI education program: the challenge of teaching future software engineers

As the technical foundations of software production emerge, software engineers run the risk of obsolescence—now.

N. E. Gibbs

Research and Advances May 1 1989

Why the look and feel of software user interfaces should not be protected by copyright law

An attorney looks at how copyright law is applied to the protection of software user interfaces and makes a strong case for reevaluating the way the law views software.

P. Samuelson

Research and Advances Apr 1 1989

Toward the perfect workplace?

The experience of home-based systems developers is compared with their office-based counterparts in a UK computer firm. The analysis produced two major patterns: the home-based workers find intrinsic value in the job, whereas office-based employees view it more instrumentally and find it interferes with satisfaction on a personal level.

L. Bailyn

Research and Advances Apr 1 1989

Developing knowledge-based systems: reorganizing the system development life cycle

Through methodological evolution, the development of the Knowledge-Based Development Life Cycle is supported. In this methodology, processes replace phases and stages and during system development, dynamic activation of processes allows the system to evolve.

John R. Weitzel and Larry Kerschberg

Research and Advances Apr 1 1989

Self-assessment procedure XIX

A self-assessment procedure on the application of copyright law to computer programs

R. W. Bickel

Research and Advances Mar 1 1989

Expert systems for configuration at Digital: XCON and beyond

Members of Digital Equipment Corporation's team of expert system experts reflect and recount a decade's worth of lessons learned in designing, and building a core of configuration systems

Virginia E. Barker, Dennis E. O'Connor, Judith Bachant, and Elliot Soloway

Research and Advances Mar 1 1989

The 1988 snowbird report: a discipline matures

With the severe crisis in computing behind us, the field is beginning to shed its preoccupation with its internal affairs. The representation of computing research to the public and to policy makers, was a major issue at Snowbird 88. Since no single entity fills this role, the Computing Research Board plans to fill it.

David Gries, Terry M. Walker, and Paul Young

Research and Advances Mar 1 1989

System structure and software maintenance performance

An experiment is designed to investigate the relationship between system structure and maintainability. An old, ill-structured system is improved in two sequential stages, yielding three system versions for the study. The primary objectives of the research are to determine how or whether the differences in the systems influence maintenance performance; whether the differences are discernible to programmers; and whether the differences are measurable. Experienced programmers perform a portfolio of maintenance tasks on the systems. Results indicate that system improvements lead to decreased total maintenance time and decreased frequency of ripple effect errors. This suggests that improving old systems may be worthwhile and may yield benefits over the remaining life of the system. System differences are not discernible to programmers; apparently programmers are unable to separate the complexity of the systems from the complexity of the maintenance tasks. This finding suggests a need for further research on the efficacy of subjectively based software metrics. Finally, results indicate that a selected set of automatable, objective complexity metrics reflected both the improvements in the system and programmer maintenance performance. These metrics appear to offer potential as project management tools.

Virginia R. Gibson and James A. Senn

Research and Advances Mar 1 1989

Methodology for allocating resources for data quality enhancement

The issue of effective use of resources committed to data integrity maintenance is addressed via a heuristic which uses parameter estimates that are iteratively refined to partition available resources among multiple data sets.

Donald P. Ballou and Giri Kumar Tayi