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Toward automating the software-development cycle
Knowledge-intensive rather than labor-intensive processes are being advanced to spur programming productivity.
Computing programs in small colleges
This Summary Report of The ACM Small College Task Force outlines resources, courses, and problems for small colleges developing degree programs in computing.
A generalized user interface for applications programs (II)
A display-screen management system for user interaction with an arbitrary application program is simple enough so that the end user controls the dialogue and screens yet powerful enough to provide for user specification of screen geometry, input constraints, computation facilities, and display logic—quite independently of the application system.
A self-assessment procedure dealing with the legal issues of computing
A study of application program development techniques
A survey of application development techniques in 43 organizations identifies the methods and tools found most effective in application software development.
The 1984 Snowbird Report: future issues in computer science
This workshop reports that no core description of computer science is universally accepted. A model of the discipline must emphasize global issues over isolated objectives, cooperation over competition.
On design principles for a molecular computer
If the unique information-processing capabilities of protein enzymes could be adapted for computers, then evolvable, more efficient systems for such applications as pattern recognition and process control are in principle possible.
Computing in the home: shifts in the time allocation patterns of households
An empirical study of 282 users of home computers was conducted to explore the relationship between computer use and shifts in time allocation patterns in the household. Major changes in time allocated to various activities were detected. Prior experience with computers (i.e., prior to purchase of the home computer) was found to have a significant impact on the time allocation patterns in the household. The study provides evidence that significant behavior changes can occur when people adopt personal computers in their homes.
Experimental mathematics: the role of computation in nonlinear science
Computers have expanded the range of nonlinear phenomena that can be explored mathematically. An “experimental mathematics facility,” containing both special-purpose dedicated machines and general-purpose mainframes, may someday provide the ideal context for complex nonlinear problems.
Designing for usability: key principles and what designers think
This article is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, it describes three principles of system design which we believe must be followed to produce a useful and easy to use computer system. These principles are: early and continual focus on users; empirical measurement of usage; and iterative design whereby the system (simulated, prototype, and real) is modified, tested, modified again, tested again, and the cycle is repeated again and again. This approach is contrasted to other principled design approaches, for example, get it right the first time, reliance on design guidelines. Empirically, the article presents data which show that our design principles are not always intuitive to designers; identifies the arguments which designers often offer for not using these principles—and answers them; and provides an example in which our principles have been used successfully.
Pricing computer services: queueing effects
This article studies the effects of queueing delays, and users' related costs, on the management and control of computing resources. It offers a methodology for setting price, utilization, and capacity, taking into account the value of users' time, and it examines the implications of alternative control structures, determined by the financial responsibility assigned to the data processing manager.
Computer science in secondary schools: curriculum and teacher certification
Computer science in secondary schools is an area of increasing interest and concern to educators as well as to computer science professionals. Each of the next two reports addresses an issue of major importance regarding computer science in secondary schools. The first report recommends computer science courses for the secondary school curriculum, and the second report recommends requirements for teacher certification in computer science.In 1983 the ACM Education Board initiated efforts to formulate recommendations for secondary school computer science. Two task forces, one for curriculum recommendations and the other for teacher certification recommendations, were established under the Education Board's Elementary and Secondary Schools Subcommittee. The work of the two task forces was also supported by the IEEE Computer Society Educational Activities Board, and the final reports from the task forces were jointly approved by the ACM and IEEE-CS boards in July 1984. Thus the reports are significan't not only for the important issues that they address, but also because they represent a joint activity between ACM and the IEEE Computer Society.The work of the two task forces is summarized in the next two reports. The full reports are available as the publication Computer Science in Secondary Schools: Curriculum and Teacher Certification, Order Number 201850, from the ACM Order Department, P.O. Box 64145, Baltimore, MD 21264.
An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system
An evaluation of a large, operational full-text document-retrieval system (containing roughly 350,000 pages of text) shows the system to be retrieving less than 20 percent of the documents relevant to a particular search. The findings are discussed in terms of the theory and practice of full-text document retrieval.
Predicting performance in an introductory computer science course
A group of 269 first-semester freshmen was used to predict both performance in an introductory computer science course and first-semester college grade point average by using information regarding the students' programs and performance in high school along with American College Testing Program (ACT) test scores.
A specification language to assist in analysis of discrete event simulation models
Effective development environments for discrete event simulation models should reduce development costs and improve model performance. A model specification language used in a model development environment is defined. This approach is intended to reduce modeling costs by interposing an intermediate form between a conceptual model (the model as it exists in the mind of the modeler) and an executable representation of that model. As a model specification is constructed, the incomplete specification can be analyzed to detect some types of errors and to provide some types of model documentation. The primitives used in this specification language, called a condition specification (CS), are carefully defined. A specification for the classical patrolling repairman model is used to illustrate this language. Some possible diagnostics and some untestable model specification properties, based on such a representation, are summarized.
Rating the major computing periodicals on readability
The readability of the ten major computing periodicals is analyzed using the Flesch Reading Ease Index.
User-oriented criteria for the selection of DSS software
Both the composition of the selection team and the choice of evaluation criteria should reflect the end-user orientation of DSS software.
From programming language design to computer construction
From NELIAC (via ALGOL 60) to Euler and ALGOL W, to Pascal and Modula-2, and ultimately Lilith, Wirth's search for an appropriate formalism for systems programming yields intriguing insights and surprising results.
Grosch’s law re-revisited: CPU power and the cost of computation
Does Grosch's law, which postulated that the costs of computer systems increase at a rate equivalent to the square root of their power, still hold? The age of mini-, micro-, and supercomputers seems to have complicated the situation. When computers are grouped according to their size and power, Grosch's law seems to hold within each group, but not between different groups.
This is the third report prepared by the ACM Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights (CSFHR). The first was published in the March 1981 Communications and the second in the December 1982 issue. This report is an update. Since the committee intends to publish future updates, it would appreciate receiving further information about computer scientists whose rights have been violated. Such information should be sent to: Jack Minker, Vice-Chairman, Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 29742.Because those whose scientific freedom or human rights have been violated derive sustenance and support from contacts with their colleagues, the CSFHR has established a program in which ACM chapters “adopt” individual scientists and correspond with them. Such correspondence should touch on the personal and scientific and not discuss political matters. These letters greatly improve the morale of the recipients and are one of the few ways they can keep current with computer science and technology. This CSFHR program is directed by Helen Takacs (P.O. Drawer CS, Mississippi State, MS 39762).
A style analysis of C programs
A large quantity of well-respected software is tested against a series of metrics designed to measure program lucidity, with intriguing results. Although slanted toward software written in the C language, the measures are adaptable for analyzing most high-level languages.
Shape the Future of Computing
ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.
Get InvolvedCommunications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.
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