June 1995 - Vol. 38 No. 6
Features
Process cost and value analysis
After years of pursuing fragments of a solution to the challenges of software engineering, including the development of methods, tools, and the like, the software…
In school or out: technology, equity, and the future of our kids
In January, Newt Gingrich proposed a tax credit for the poorest Americans to purchase laptop computers, forgetting for the moment that the poorest Americans do not pay…
Cognition and software development
Not long ago, programmers controlled computers by arranging wires on a control panel built into the side of a large floor-standing machine. Today palm-sized pointing…
Why looking isn’t always seeing: readership skills and graphical programming
Many believe that visual programming techniques are quite close to developers. This article reports on some fascinating research focusing on understanding how textual and…
Discovering the way programmers think about new programming environments
An interesting usability study of a prototype development environment for the Dylan programming language is presented here. This study's purpose is to determine just how…
Cognitive bias in software engineering
Developer's thought processes are a fundamental area of concern. Cognitive scientist have discovered that people's intiative inferences and probality judgments do not…
From programming environments to environments for designing
Though there have been advances in end-user programming, complex applications still need professional developers. This inspired look at the future of creating complex…
Sixteen questions about software reuse
Software reuse is the use of existing software knowledge or artifacts to build new software artifacts. Reuse is sometimes confused with porting. The two are distinguished…
Auction allocation of computing resources
Standard methods for allocating computing resources normally employ schedulers and either queue or priority schemes. Alternative methods utilizing marketlike processes…
Comparing data modeling formalisms
Accurate specification and validation of information requirements is critical to the development of organizational information systems. Semantic data models were…
Recently, the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) has decided to redesign the Advanced Placement (AP) examination in computer science (CS) so that AP courses will…
Computer vulnerabilities: exploitation or avoidance
The online Risks Forum has long been a hotbed for discussions of the relative merits of openness relating to the dissemination of knowledge about security…