William J. Karnowski is a construction worker by day and poet by night. His spirit is married to the earth. He worked as a laborer, a mason tender, finisher, gandydancer, therapy aide, boat builder, ironworker, draftsman, and now owns a construction company with his brother Dave. "I thought to myself, "Self, if the geese can go south, then, why can't we?" It never did take me very long to make a decision, especially if it involved a motorcycle." Bill has traveled the length of the Oregon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and to the Great Smokies and back in the sports car that he built. He built his house, makes his furniture, and writes poetry on his farm at Laclede, Kansas. "I find it is satisfying to get my hands and brain involved in everything I do." "Check it out. I twist a few tails along the way."

Validation and verification is an area of software engineering that has been around since the early stages of program development, especially one of its more known areas: testing. Testing, the dynamic side of validation and verification (V&V), has been complemented with other, more formal techniques of software engineering, and so the static verification - traditional in formal methods - has been joined by model checking and other techniques. ""Verification, Validation and Testing in Software Engineering"" offers thorough coverage of many valuable formal and semiformal techniques of V&V. It explores, depicts, and provides examples of different applications in V&V that produce many areas of software development - including real-time applications - where V&V techniques are required.

This book examines how and why collaborative quality assurance techniques, particularly pair programming and peer code review, affect group cognition and software quality in agile software development teams. Prior research on these extremely popular but also costly techniques has focused on isolated pairs of developers and ignored the fact that they are typically applied in larger, enduring teams. This book is one of the first studies to investigate how these techniques depend on and influence the joint cognitive accomplishments of entire development teams rather than individuals. It employs theories on transactive memory systems and functional affordances to provide answers based on empirical research. The mixed-methods research presented includes several in-depth case studies and survey results from more than 500 software developers, team leaders, and product managers in 81 software development teams. The book's findings will advance IS research and have explicit implications for developers of code review tools, information systems development teams, and software development managers.

Managing Complexity is the first book that clearly defines the concept of Complexity, explains how Complexity can be measured and tuned, and describes the seven key features of Complex Systems: 1. Connectivity 2. Autonomy 3. Emergency 4. Nonequilibrium 5. Non-linearity 6. Self-organisation 7. Co-evolution The thesis of the book is that complexity of the environment in which we work and live offers new opportunities and that the best strategy for surviving and prospering under conditions of complexity is to develop adaptability to perpetually changing conditions. An effective method for designing adaptability into business processes using multi-agent technology is presented and illustrated by several extensive examples, including adaptive, real-time scheduling of taxis, see-going tankers, road transport, supply chains, railway trains, production processes and swarms of small space satellites. Additional case studies include adaptive servicing of the International Space Station; adaptive processing of design changes of large structures such as wings of the largest airliner in the world; dynamic data mining, knowledge discovery and distributed semantic processing.Finally, the book provides a foretaste of the next generation of complex issues, notably, The Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Digital Enterprises and Smart Logistics.

This unique text/reference reviews the key principles and techniques in conceptual modelling which are of relevance to specialists in the field of cultural heritage. Information modelling tasks are a vital aspect of work and study in such disciplines as archaeology, anthropology, history, and architecture. Yet the concepts and methods behind information modelling are rarely covered by the training in cultural heritage-related fields. With the increasing popularity of the digital humanities, and the rapidly growing need to manage large and complex datasets, the importance of information modelling in cultural heritage is greater than ever before. To address this need, this book serves in the place of a course on software engineering, assuming no previous knowledge of the field. Topics and features: Presents a general philosophical introduction to conceptual modelling Introduces the basics of conceptual modelling, using the ConML language as an infrastructure Reviews advanced modelling techniques relating to issues of vagueness, temporality and subjectivity, in addition to such topics as metainformation and feature redefinition Proposes an ontology for cultural heritage supported by the Cultural Heritage Abstract Reference Model (CHARM), to enable the easy construction of conceptual models Describes various usage scenarios and applications of cultural heritage modelling, offering practical tips on how to use different techniques to solve real-world problems This interdisciplinary work is an essential primer for tutors and students (at both undergraduate and graduate level) in any area related to cultural heritage, including archaeology, anthropology, art, history, architecture, or literature. Cultural heritage managers, researchers, and professionals will also find this to be a valuable reference, as will anyone involved in database design, data management, or the conceptualization of cultural heritage in general. Dr. Cesar Gonzalez-Perez is a Staff Scientist at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit), within the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Explores and identifies the main issues, concepts, principles and evolution of software testing, including software quality engineering and testing concepts, test data generation, test deployment analysis, and software test management This book examines the principles, concepts, and processes that are fundamental to the software testing function. This book is divided into five broad parts. Part I introduces software testing in the broader context of software engineering and explores the qualities that testing aims to achieve or ascertain, as well as the lifecycle of software testing. Part II covers mathematical foundations of software testing, which include software specification, program correctness and verification, concepts of software dependability, and a software testing taxonomy. Part III discusses test data generation, specifically, functional criteria and structural criteria. Test oracle design, test driver design, and test outcome analysis is covered in Part IV. Finally, Part V surveys managerial aspects of software testing, including software metrics, software testing tools, and software product line testing. * Presents software testing, not as an isolated technique, but as part of an integrated discipline of software verification and validation * Proposes program testing and program correctness verification within the same mathematical model, making it possible to deploy the two techniques in concert, by virtue of the law of diminishing returns * Defines the concept of a software fault, and the related concept of relative correctness, and shows how relative correctness can be used to characterize monotonic fault removal * Presents the activity of software testing as a goal oriented activity, and explores how the conduct of the test depends on the selected goal * Covers all phases of the software testing lifecycle, including test data generation, test oracle design, test driver design, and test outcome analysis Software Testing: Concepts and Operations is a great resource for software quality and software engineering students because it presents them with fundamentals that help them to prepare for their ever evolving discipline.

Multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods are illustrated in this book through theoretical and computational techniques utilizing Python. Existing methods are presented in detail with a step by step learning approach. Theoretical background is given for TOPSIS, VIKOR, PROMETHEE, SIR, AHP, goal programming, and their variations. Comprehensive numerical examples are also discussed for each method in conjunction with easy to follow Python code. Extensions to multiple criteria decision making algorithms such as fuzzy number theory and group decision making are introduced and implemented through Python as well. Readers will learn how to implement and use each method based on the problem, the available data, the stakeholders involved, and the various requirements needed. Focusing on the practical aspects of the multiple criteria decision making methodologies, this book is designed for researchers, practitioners and advanced graduate students in the applied mathematics, information systems, operations research and business administration disciplines, as well as other engineers and scientists oriented in interdisciplinary research. Readers will greatly benefit from this book by learning and applying various MCDM/A methods. (Adiel Teixeira de Almeida, CDSID-Center for Decision System and Information Development, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil) Promoting the development and application of multicriteria decision aid is essential to ensure more ethical and sustainable decisions. This book is a great contribution to this objective. It is a perfect blend of theory and practice, providing potential users and researchers with the theoretical bases of some of the best-known methods as well as with the computing tools needed to practice, to compare and to put these methods to use. (Jean-Pierre Brans, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium) This book is intended for researchers, practitioners and students alike in decision support who wish to familiarize themselves quickly and efficiently with multicriteria decision aiding algorithms. The proposed approach is original, as it presents a selection of methods from the theory to the practical implementation in Python, including a detailed example. This will certainly facilitate the learning of these techniques, and contribute to their effective dissemination in applications. (Patrick Meyer, IMT Atlantique, Lab-STICC, Univ. Bretagne Loire, Brest, France)

This volume of LNCSE is a collection of the papers from the proceedings of the third workshop on sparse grids and applications. Sparse grids are a popular approach for the numerical treatment of high-dimensional problems. Where classical numerical discretization schemes fail in more than three or four dimensions, sparse grids, in their different guises, are frequently the method of choice, be it spatially adaptive in the hierarchical basis or via the dimensionally adaptive combination technique. Demonstrating once again the importance of this numerical discretization scheme, the selected articles present recent advances on the numerical analysis of sparse grids as well as efficient data structures. The book also discusses a range of applications, including uncertainty quantification and plasma physics.

In a down-to-the earth manner, the volume lucidly presents how the fundamental concepts, methodology, and algorithms of Computational Intelligence are efficiently exploited in Software Engineering and opens up a novel and promising avenue of a comprehensive analysis and advanced design of software artifacts. It shows how the paradigm and the best practices of Computational Intelligence can be creatively explored to carry out comprehensive software requirement analysis, support design, testing, and maintenance. Software Engineering is an intensive knowledge-based endeavor of inherent human-centric nature, which profoundly relies on acquiring semiformal knowledge and then processing it to produce a running system. The knowledge spans a wide variety of artifacts, from requirements, captured in the interaction with customers, to design practices, testing, and code management strategies, which rely on the knowledge of the running system. This volume consists of contributions written by widely acknowledged experts in the field who reveal how the Software Engineering benefits from the key foundations and synergistically existing technologies of Computational Intelligence being focused on knowledge representation, learning mechanisms, and population-based global optimization strategies. This book can serve as a highly useful reference material for researchers, software engineers and graduate students and senior undergraduate students in Software Engineering and its sub-disciplines, Internet engineering, Computational Intelligence, management, operations research, and knowledge-based systems.

Good user interface design isn t just about aesthetics or using the latest technology. Designers also need to ensure their product is offering an optimal user experience. This requires user needs analysis, usability testing, persona creation, prototyping, design sketching, and evaluation through-out the design and development process. "User Experience Re-Mastered" takes tried and tested material from best-selling books in Morgan Kaufmann s Series in Interactive Technologies and presents it in typical project framework. Chauncey Wilson guides the reader through each chapter, introducing each stage, explaining its context, and emphasizing its significance in the user experience lifecycle. This gives readers practical and easily applicable direction for creating web sites and web applications that ensure the ultimate experience. A must read for students, those new to the field, and anyone designing interfaces for people

*A guided, hands-on tour through the process of creating the ultimate user experience - from testing, to prototyping, to design, to evaluation

*Provides tried and tested material from best sellers in Morgan Kaufmann s Series in Interactive Technologies, including leaders in the field such as Bill Buxton and Jakob Nielsen

*Features never before seen material from Chauncey Wilson s forthcoming, and highly anticipated Handbook for User Centered Design"

End users have become increasingly integrated into computing environments, necessitating continued inquiry into successful models for end user design and development and the impact that these models have on performance and productivity. End-User Computing, Development and Software Engineering: New Challenges explores the implementation of organizational and end user computing initiatives and provides foundational research to further the understanding of this discipline and its related fields. This book reviews the factors and barriers to ICT adoption in organizations, opportunities and benefits of communities of practice, and impact that end user computing can have on overall firm performance.

This book focuses on defining the achievements of software engineering in the past decades and showcasing visions for the future. It features a collection of articles by some of the most prominent researchers and technologists who have shaped the field: Barry Boehm, Manfred Broy, Patrick Cousot, Erich Gamma, Yuri Gurevich, Tony Hoare, Michael A. Jackson, Rustan Leino, David L. Parnas, Dieter Rombach, Joseph Sifakis, Niklaus Wirth, Pamela Zave, and Andreas Zeller. The contributed articles reflect the authors' individual views on what constitutes the most important issues facing software development. Both research- and technology-oriented contributions are included. The book provides at the same time a record of a symposium held at ETH Zurich on the occasion of Bertrand Meyer's 60th birthday.

To solve performance problems in modern computing infrastructures, often comprising thousands of servers running hundreds of applications, spanning multiple tiers, you need tools that go beyond mere reporting. You need tools that enable performance analysis of application workflow across the entire enterprise. That's what PDQ (Pretty Damn Quick) provides. PDQ is an open-source performance analyzer based on the paradigm of queues. Queues are ubiquitous in every computing environment as buffers, and since any application architecture can be represented as a circuit of queueing delays, PDQ is a natural fit for analyzing system performance. Building on the success of the first edition, this considerably expanded second edition now comprises four parts. Part I contains the foundational concepts, as well as a new first chapter that explains the central role of queues in successful performance analysis. Part II provides the basics of queueing theory in a highly intelligible style for the non-mathematician; little more than high-school algebra being required. Part III presents many practical examples of how PDQ can be applied. The PDQ manual has been relegated to an appendix in Part IV, along with solutions to the exercises contained in each chapter. Throughout, the Perl code listings have been newly formatted to improve readability. The PDQ code and updates to the PDQ manual are available from the author's web site at www.perfdynamics.com

Weighted finite automata are classical nondeterministic finite automata in which the transitions carry weights. These weights may model, for example, the cost involved when executing a transition, the resources or time needed for this, or the probability or reliability of its successful execution. Weights can also be added to classical automata with infinite state sets like pushdown automata, and this extension constitutes the general concept of weighted automata. Since their introduction in the 1960s they have stimulated research in related areas of theoretical computer science, including formal language theory, algebra, logic, and discrete structures. Moreover, weighted automata and weighted context-free grammars have found application in natural-language processing, speech recognition, and digital image compression.

This book covers all the main aspects of weighted automata and formal power series methods, ranging from theory to applications. The contributors are the leading experts in their respective areas, and each chapter presents a detailed survey of the state of the art and pointers to future research. The chapters in Part I cover the foundations of the theory of weighted automata, specifically addressing semirings, power series, and fixed point theory. Part II investigates different concepts of weighted recognizability. Part III examines alternative types of weighted automata and various discrete structures other than words. Finally, Part IV deals with applications of weighted automata, including digital image compression, fuzzy languages, model checking, and natural-language processing.

Computer scientists and mathematicians will find this book an excellent survey and reference volume, and it will also be a valuable resource for students exploring this exciting research area.

Test-driven development (TDD) is a new approach to application development that is designed to eliminate the fear often associated with building software. Admittedly, some fear is healthy (often viewed as a conscience that tells programmers to “be careful!”), but the author believes that programmers build better software when they have the freedom to be creative. By building tests before coding begins, programmers ensure the success of their application from the outset. Students are more likely to achieve positive results with TDD. The author's example-driven approach also teaches students to be better communicators, and encourages team members to seek out constructive criticism.

"Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects" presents a complete guide on requirements for software development including engineering, computer science and management activities. It is the first book to cover all aspects of requirements management in software development projects. This book introduces the understanding of the requirements, elicitation and gathering, requirements analysis, verification and validation of the requirements, establishment of requirements, different methodologies in brief, requirements traceability and change management among other topics. The best practices, pitfalls, and metrics used for efficient software requirements management are also covered. Intended for the professional market, including software engineers, programmers, designers and researchers, this book is also suitable for advanced-level students in computer science or engineering courses as a textbook or reference."

You don t need coddling; you don t need to be told what you already know. What you need is a book that uses your experience as a Java or C++ programmer to give you a leg up into the challenges and rewards of C#. And this Practical Guide is precisely what you re after.
Written by a team that boasts extensive experience teaching C# to professionals, this book provides a practical, efficient explanation of the language itself, covering basic to advanced features and calling out all that s new in 2.0. Its instruction is always firmly situated within the context of the .NET framework and bolstered by code examples, key lessons in object-oriented programming, and installments of a realistic application programming tutorial. Concise and incisive, this is the best way to master the world s fastest-growing and most marketable programming language.
Features
* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes.
* Highlights all features new to the latest version of C# and organizes its presentation of C# according to the key principles of object-oriented programming and the .NET framework.
* Using end-of-chapter exercises, incrementally develops a cohesive application programming tutorial.
* Includes an easy-to-use appendix on the grammatical rules of C# and provides downloadable example code via the companion website.
* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes.
* Highlights all features new to the latest version of C# and organizes its presentation of C# according to the key principles of object-oriented programming and the .NET framework.
* Using end-of-chapter exercises, incrementally develops a cohesive application programming tutorial.
* Includes an easy-to-use appendix on the grammatical rules of C# and provides downloadable example code via the companion website."

Making the most ef?cient use of computer systems has rapidly become a leading topic of interest for the computer industry and its customers alike. However, the focus of these discussions is often on single, isolated, and speci?c architectural and technological improvements for power reduction and conservation, while ignoring the fact that power ef?ciency as a ratio of performance to power consumption is equally in?uenced by performance improvements and architectural power red- tion. Furthermore, ef?ciency can be in?uenced on all levels of today's system hi- archies from single cores all the way to distributed Grid environments. To improve execution and power ef?ciency requires progress in such diverse ?elds as program optimization, optimization of program scheduling, and power reduction of idling system components for all levels of the system hierarchy. Improving computer system ef?ciency requires improving system performance and reducing system power consumption. To research and reach reasonable conc- sions about system performance we need to not only understand the architectures of our computer systems and the available array of code transformations for p- formance optimizations, but we also need to be able to express this understanding in performance models good enough to guide decisions about code optimizations for speci?c systems. This understanding is necessary on all levels of the system hierarchy from single cores to nodes to full high performance computing (HPC) systems, and eventually to Grid environments with multiple systems and resources.

Computer-Aided Innovation (CAI) is emerging as a strategic domain of research and application to support enterprises throughout the overall innovation process. The 5.4 Working Group of IFIP aims at defining the scientific foundation of Computer Aided Innovation systems and at identifying state of the art and trends of CAI tools and methods. These Proceedings derive from the second Topical Session on Computer- Aided Innovation organized within the 20th World Computer Congress of IFIP. The goal of the Topical Session is to provide a survey of existing technologies and research activities in the field and to identify opportunities of integration of CAI with other PLM systems. According to the heterogeneous needs of innovation-related activities, the papers published in this volume are characterized by multidisciplinary contents and complementary perspectives and scopes. Such a richness of topics and disciplines will certainly contribute to the promotion of fruitful new collaborations and synergies within the IFIP community. Gaetano Cascini th Florence, April 30 20 08 CAI Topical Session Organization The IFIP Topical Session on Computer-Aided Innovation (CAI) is a co-located conference organized under the auspices of the IFIP World Computer Congress (WCC) 2008 in Milano, Italy Gaetano Cascini CAI Program Committee Chair [email protected]