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January 1995 - Vol. 38 No. 1

January 1995 issue cover image

Features

Research and Advances Jan 2 1995

Women in computing

The world is changing and the demographics of the workforce are changing with it. At one time there was hope that our exciting new field of computer science would not only revolutionize the technical world in which we live, but break new ground in professional access and equity for women. This optimism has given way to pragmatism. If we want the best and the brightest women to participate fully in our profession, we must take a long hard look at our professional practices and conventions. The goal of this special section is to provide computer professionals with the information to understand the issues that women confront in their workplace and with the resources to successfully diversify their workplace. I hope you will save this issue of Communications as a reference for many years to come. I also hope that, as opportunities for women in computer science expand, the need for the specialized resources and programs we described here diminishes.
Computing Applications
Research and Advances Jan 2 1995

CASE tools as collaborative support technologies

Since the inception of computers, the software industry has searched for dramatic solutions to its systems development problems. In the latter half of the 1980s and into the 1990s, the search has focused on automated software engineering (computer-assisted software engineering or CASE) tools (see, for example, [17]). Many in the software engineering field claim CASE tools will completely replace the software developer [15]. A more realistic view, however, is that such tools will aid systems developers in the process of specifying, designing, and constructing software systems.
and
Computing Applications
Research and Advances Jan 2 1995

LEDA: a platform for combinatorial and geometric computing

Combinatorial and geometric computing is a core area of computer science (CS). In fact, most CS curricula contain a course in data structures and algorithms. The area deals with objects such as graphs, sequences, dictionaries, trees, shortest paths, flows, matchings, points, segments, lines, convex hulls, and Voronoi diagrams and forms the basis for application areas such as discrete optimization, scheduling, traffic control, CAD, and graphics. There is no standard library of the data structures and algorithms of combinatorial and geometric computing. This is in sharp contrast to many other areas of computing. There are, for example, packages in statistics (SPSS), numerical analysis (LINPACK, EISPACK), symbolic computation (MAPLE, MATHEMATICA), and linear programming (CPLEX).
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Computing Applications
Research and Advances Jan 2 1995

Ultra-structure: a design theory for complex systems and processes

The physicist and Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine states that “our understanding of nature is undergoing a radical change toward the multiple, the temporal, and the complex. Curiously, the unexpected complexity found in nature has not led to a slowdown in the progress of science, but on the contrary to the emergence of new conceptual structures that now appear as essential to our understanding of the physical world” [11]. We believe the challenges posed by complex systems arise primarily from the use of conceptual structures that worked well for static systems but do not work as well for more dynamic systems. We therefore propose new conceptual structures based on a different metaphysical view of the nature of complex systems.
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Computing Applications
Opinion Jan 2 1995

Random number generators are chaotic

The study of highly unstable nonlinear dynamical systems—chaotic systems—has emerged recently as an area of major interest and applicability across the mathematical, physical and social sciences. This interest has been triggered by advances in the past decade, particularly in the mathematical understanding of complex systems. An important insight that has become widely recognized in recent years is that deterministic systems can give rise to chaotic behavior. Surprisingly, many of these systems are extremely simple, yet they exhibit complex chaotic behavior.
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Opinion Jan 2 1995

The info superhighway: for the people

The opportunities are attractive, but some pavers of the Information Superhighway (ISH) are too eager to pour concrete. They risk making rough roads that will alienate the very users they seek. These technologically oriented ISH devotees may be building dramatic overpasses and painting stripes without figuring out where the highway should be going. I believe greater attention should be paid to identifying appropriate services, designing a consistent user interface, and developing a clearer model of the diverse user communities.
Architecture and Hardware

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