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October 2002 - Vol. 45 No. 10

October 2002 issue cover image

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Oct 1 2002

Editorial Pointers

It seems every time we spotlight the latest in component-based software and systems development, the stories emanating from this effort tell of progress beyond all previous predictions. And when you consider the frequency of our coverage, you can appreciate how much has been achieved in so little time.
Computing Applications
Practice Developing and integrating enterprise components and services Oct 1 2002

Introduction

The component paradigm starts with the assertion of an assembly-oriented view of software engineering, building software applications by wiring together the ports and connectors of a set of pre-fabricated parts (components) within a component context. This paradigm is an evolution of the notion of the object paradigm: an object having identity, state, and behavior; a component exposing services, contracts, and manners and is, most importantly, configurable without requiring intrusive changes for using it [1]. Modularization and separation of concerns (for example, interface from implementation) are key elements of this paradigm. Parnas stated in 1972 that modules, or as they have evolved today, components, have boundaries defined by how we choose to hide, not just data or methods, but design decisions [2]. These design decisions often pertain to a component's manners: the rules governing how it behaves in a context. This externalization process adds a further dimension of separation of concerns by allowing data, behavioral specification, and even a business language to be externalized as metadata to be used to modify the contextual behavior of the component at runtime. In this special section, we explore the problems and solutions encountered in industry and academia around the world when using the component paradigm in building software systems?specifically, to support business domains.
Computing Applications
Research and Advances Creativity and interface Oct 1 2002

Introduction

Many significant advances in research on human creativity have occurred, yet today's tools often contain interface elements that stymie creative efforts. A discontinuity exists between technology tools and our ability to interact with them in natural, beneficial, and, most importantly for this discussion, creative ways. Some computer scientists and human-computer interaction specialists are finding compelling opportunities to apply creativity research findings to new interfaces [3]. The articles in this section present insights, struggles, and perspectives gained through developing interfaces and technologies to support human creativity. The authors are not experts in creativity but experts in human-computer interaction motivated to bridge the gap between current approaches to computer usability and creativity techniques.
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Computing Applications
Research and Advances Creativity and interface Oct 1 2002

Collaborative Creativity

Human creativity represents an enigma to the research community: It is all but impossible to describe the process in unequivocal terms, yet there is a strong desire to promote and encourage this uniquely human activity. Within the realm of human-computer interaction, the challenge is to understand in what ways technology can enhance the creative process. In the past, research on creativity focused on the individual and the individual's internal cognitive processes. As a result, there exists a legacy of guidelines and frameworks for building computer-based tools that encourage and promote individual creativity. However, recent research has begun to paint a more complicated picture of creativity that highlights the importance of social interactions, mentoring, and collaboration in creative work [1, 4, 6, 8]. The importance of analyzing creativity in this more holistic sense is readily apparent when one considers that most creative pursuits in industry involve interdisciplinary teams working together to develop a product that cannot be created by a single individual alone. The question for HCI research becomes then: What tools, methodologies, and practices can support creativity of individuals in interdisciplinary teams?
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Computing Applications
Research and Advances Creativity and interface Oct 1 2002

Characteristics of Applications that Support Creativity

Creativity typically involves some novel change to a symbolic domain and the production of some artifact judged by domain experts, in some manner, to be creative [1, 2]. An understanding of basic principles and preexisting knowledge helps one know what, when, where, and how to tweak a pattern in order to produce something creative. Creative tweaks may be seen in art, in science, and indeed, in everyday life. The role of preexisting knowledge is recognized as critical to evaluation in one of the more formal mechanisms for recognizing creative inventions?patents. While patentable inventions must be sufficiently creative and novel, they must also be described well enough for someone skilled in the art to be able to build them.
Computing Applications
Research and Advances Creativity and interface Oct 1 2002

Supporting Experimentation with Side-Views

Practitioners naturally experiment and explore multiple solutions to a problem in the course of constructing a creative result [4?6]. For example, industrial designers explicitly generate dozens of concept sketches for a new product, then extract the most desirable characteristics of each to combine into a new series of sketches. This process repeats itself until only a handful of candidates remain. The need for this iterative, experimental, and exploratory process is evident when one considers the goal of a creative activity is to develop an original result never before attained [3, 6, 7]. By definition, then, there exists no "recipe" for reaching the novel result: practitioners must actively experiment and explore to develop a methodology that yields something completely new [6].
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Computing Applications
Research and Advances Creativity and interface Oct 1 2002

Re-Creating the Reader: Supporting Active Reading in Literary Research

The understanding of literary works is a highly creative yet constrained process focused on examining and articulating the possible intentions of the authors [7]. The active reading project is motivated by the potential of electronic editions to enhance creative activities in literary studies. We use "active reading" to refer to how a reader's individual interpretation of a literary work is influenced by its textual variants, and how the reader may take on the role of editor in their choice of variants. The objective of the work is to better understand and support this creative process within literary studies. We look to enabling end user creativity within a domain that is strongly reliant upon experience, contextual knowledge and peer feedback. Hence, a valid role for support technology exists for helping users create and articulate novel interpretations as part of literary studies. The outcome for the end user, as an active reader, will be improved interactive mechanisms for developing innovative literary interpretations that are articulated in the form of novel textual editions. A holistic-practice-based approach is being adopted in order to establish the rich literary context in which active reading takes place. The work involves close collaboration with experts and educators in the field of literature from the Shakespearean period.
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Computing Applications
Opinion Inside risks Oct 1 2002

Secure Systems Conundrum

By definition, a secure system enforces some policy it is given. For example, such a policy might prevent confidential files from being revealed or might notify the copyright holder every time an MP3 file is played. The former protects the user as an individual; the latter enables new means of charging for electronically distributed intellectual property. Both might be seen as improving the status quo. Yet whether secure systems are in practice attractive really depends on two questions: What range of policies can the system enforce? And, Who chooses what policies the system enforces?
Architecture and Hardware

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