Systems and Networking
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The intensive use of memory to recall specific episodes from the past—rather than rules—should be the foundation of machine reasoning.
Parallel free-text search on the connection machine system
A new implementation of free-text search using a new parallel computer—the Connection Machine®—makes possible the application of exhaustive methods not previously feasible for large databases.
Advanced compiler optimizations for supercomputers
Compilers for vector or multiprocessor computers must have certain optimization features to successfully generate parallel code.
Parallel computers with tens of thousands of processors are typically programmed in a data parallel style, as opposed to the control parallel style used in multiprocessing. The success of data parallel algorithms—even on problems that at first glance seem inherently serial—suggests that this style of programming has much wider applicability than was previously thought.
Schematic pseudocode for program constructs and its computer automation by SCHEMACODE
To achieve program control flow representation that is relatively independent of any given programming language, schematic pseudocode (SPC) uses a perceptual notation system composed of schemata whose syntax rules are described by a grammar. Source code documentation is supported by operational comments, and translation into a target procedural language is fully automatic.
MIS in Soviet industrial enterprise: the limits of reform from above
The USSR has carried out a large-scale program to bring computer-based information systems, called Automated Enterprise Management Systems (ASUPs), to industrial enterprises. This program illustrates the extent to which computer-based information systems are inextricably embedded in the surrounding social, economic, and political systems.
A series of three laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the influence of graphical and color-enhanced information presentation modes on decision quality, decision making time, use of information, and user perceptions. The experimental design allowed for the unconfounded study of line graphs and color using a variety of information presentation designs for the same decision making task. Based on the findings of these studies, propositions about the impact of graphics and color on individual decision makers are presented. The influence of presentation mode on human performance and the perceived value of information is related to how well it supports the solution approach to a particular task. The benefits of graphics are limited to reducing decision making time but only when the graphical report has been designed to directly assist in solving the task. Multicolor reports aid in decision making, but only in specific circumstances, that is, their benefits are not pervasive. It appears that color is more advantageous when associated with graphical reports, for certain decision maker types, during learning periods, and in time constrained environments.
The report of the ACM Longe-Range Planning Committee: a summary
The Committee evaluates ACM as it exists today, and makes recommendations for the future.
Spreadsheet calculations of probabilities from the F, t, χ2, and normal distribution
By computing probabilities from the normalization of the F distribution (instead of by numerical integration methods), statistical capabilities in spreadsheet operations can be greatly expanded and enhanced.
A self-assessment procedure dealing with computer organization and logic design
Min-max heaps and generalized priority queues
A simple implementation of double-ended priority queues is presented. The proposed structure, called a min-max heap, can be built in linear time; in contrast to conventional heaps, it allows both FindMin and FindMax to be performed in constant time; Insert, DeleteMin, and DeleteMax operations can be performed in logarithmic time. Min-max heaps can be generalized to support other similar order-statistics operations efficiently (e.g., constant time FindMedian and logarithmic time DeleteMedian); furthermore, the notion of min-max ordering can be extended to other heap-ordered structures, such as leftist trees.
Computer networks are becoming more numerous and more diverse. Collectively, they constitute a worldwide metanetwork.
Presented here is the Computer Science Board's survey on the production and employment of Ph.D.'s and faculty in computer science and engineering.
Accessing bit fields in FORTRAN-77
By incorporating bit-manipulation routines into Fortran-77, it is now possible to manipulate bits or partial word operands without having to write assembly-coded subroutines. Because the routines are now acceptable to Fortran-77 compilers, the accessing code is now portable to other Fortran Machines.
Microprocessor architectures: a comparison based on code generation by compiler
By carefully tuning computer and compiler, it is possible to avoid the otherwise inevitable compromises between complex compiling algorithms and less-than-optimal compiled code, where the key to performance appears to lie neither in sophisticated nor drastically reduced architectures, but in the key concepts of regularity and completeness.
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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