G eant 4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. It includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. It has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilised, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics.

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Geant4—a simulation toolkit

In The Unified Modeling Language User Guide, the original developers of the UML--Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson--provide a tutorial to the core aspects of the language in a two-color format designed to facilitate learning. Starting with a conceptual model of the UML, the book progressively applies the UML to a series of increasingly complex modeling problems across a variety of application domains. This example-driven approach helps readers quickly understand and apply the UML. For more advanced developers, the book includes a learning track focused on applying the UML to advanced modeling problems.With The Unified Modeling Language User Guide, readers will:Understand what the UML is, what it is not, and why it is relevant to the development of software-intensive systemsMaster the vocabulary, rules, and idioms of the UML in order to "speak" the language effectivelyLearn how to apply the UML to a number of common modeling problemsSee illustrations of the UML's use interspersed with use cases for specific UML features, andGain insight into the UML from the original creators of the UML.

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The Unified Modeling Language User Guide

Geant4 - A Simulation Toolkit

Given the central role that software development plays in the delivery and application of information technology, managers are increasingly focusing on process improvement in the software development area. This demand has spurred the provision of a number of new and/or improved approaches to software development, with perhaps the most prominent being object-orientation (OO). In addition, the focus on process improvement has increased the demand for software measures, or metrics with which to manage the process. The need for such metrics is particularly acute when an organization is adopting a new technology for which established practices have yet to be developed. This research addresses these needs through the development and implementation of a new suite of metrics for OO design. Metrics developed in previous research, while contributing to the field's understanding of software development processes, have generally been subject to serious criticisms, including the lack of a theoretical base. Following Wand and Weber (1989), the theoretical base chosen for the metrics was the ontology of Bunge (1977). Six design metrics are developed, and then analytically evaluated against Weyuker's (1988) proposed set of measurement principles. An automated data collection tool was then developed and implemented to collect an empirical sample of these metrics at two field sites in order to demonstrate their feasibility and suggest ways in which managers may use these metrics for process improvement. >

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A metrics suite for object oriented design

Prior research has provided valuable insights into how and why employees make a decision about the adoption and use of information technologies (ITs) in the workplace. From an organizational point of view, however, the more important issue is how managers make informed decisions about interventions that can lead to greater acceptance and effective utilization of IT. There is limited research in the IT implementation literature that deals with the role of interventions to aid such managerial decision making. Particularly, there is a need to understand how various interventions can influence the known determinants of IT adoption and use. To address this gap in the literature, we draw from the vast body of research on the technology acceptance model (TAM), particularly the work on the determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and: (i) develop a comprehensive nomological network (integrated model) of the determinants of individual level (IT) adoption and use; (ii) empirically test the proposed integrated model; and (iii) present a research agenda focused on potential pre- and postimplementation interventions that can enhance employees' adoption and use of IT. Our findings and research agenda have important implications for managerial decision making on IT implementation in organizations.

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Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions

The paper discusses the abundance of software products in the face of the economic scarcity. The author states that in the face of economic scarcity, the traditional response is to retreat, shrink, slash, and try not to panic. But there's another, more creative reaction to economic scarcity: to attack. While the velocity of money may have greatly decelerated and while credit might still be a scarce resource, human imagination is not similarly constrained. Software is the most fungible and liquid of resources. The supply of software is limited only by human imagination and labor. Software has no mass, it's remarkably malleable and wonderfully versatile, and it never wears out. This is why it also argue that software intensive systems are an inescapable and necessary element in helping software people operate, innovate, and even thrive.Undeniably, software-intensive systems, even in these lean economic times, are the force behind a sea change in communication and connectivity and a force that continues to propel innovation. Innovation in times of abundance is relatively easy; even just staying alive in lean times is a struggle. The thing about abundance is that, well, abundance feels a whole lot better than scarcity.

Software Abundance in the Face of Economic Scarcity, Part 1

Software is invisible to most of the world. Although individuals, organizations, and nations rely on a multitude of software-intensive systems every day, most software lives in the interstitial spaces of society, hidden from view except insofar as it does something tangible or useful. Furthermore, most interesting software is continuously evolving: it is never turned off, but rather is adapted, integrated, extended, and reused. As such, while greenfield software development persists, most software development is brownfield, requiring teams to conduct archeological digs in order to understand, reason about, and transmogrify those systems. It is a sign of maturity for any given engineering discipline when we can name, study, and apply the patterns relevant to that domain. In civil engineering, one can study the fundamental elements of architecture in works that expose and compare common architectural styles. Similarly, in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and now even genomic engineering, there exist libraries of common patterns that have proven themselves useful in practice. Unfortunately, no such architectural reference yet exists for software-intensive systems. Although the patterns community has pioneered the vocabulary of design patterns through the work of the Hillside Group and the Gang of Four (in their seminal book, Design Patterns), our industry has no parallel to the architecture handbooks found in more mature design disciplines. The primary goal of the Handbook of Software Architecture (http://www.booch.com/architecture) is to fill this void in software engineering by codifying the architecture of a large collection of interesting software-intensive systems, presenting them in a manner that exposes their essential pattern and that permits comparisons across domains and architectural styles. In this presentation, we will examine the nature of software archeology and some of the systems under study in the Handbook.

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Software Archeology and the Handbook of Software Architecture

The subject of the computability of the mind introduces complex philosophical, ethical, and technical issues. That aside, this topic draws us in to the nature of algorithms. We are surrounded by algorithms; much of the history of computing is also the history of the advance of algorithms. For the public, algorithms are part of computing's self-made mystery, but to understand their nature is an important part of computational thinking. The Web extra at http://youtu.be/Lm5IRxWk4AQ is an audio podcast of author Grady Booch reading his On Computing column, in which he introduces the complex philosophical, ethical, and technical issues associated with the idea that the mind can be understood as a computer.

From Minecraft to Minds

To Code or Not to Code, That Is the Question

Virtually all well-structured music, music that pleases the ear and moves the spirit, is full of patterns Music is a primal medium of expression, and while some musicians in every age push the envelope of contemporary practice, there have emerged over the centuries common patterns of song structure, motifs, and even scales to which our ears have become accustomed As it turns out, these musical patterns aren't so much constraining as they are liberating Each level of structure imposes a discipline that limits a musical work from being something else and thus distinguishes one music piece from another Similarly, all well-structured software-intensive systems are full of patterns Architectural patterns serve the same role as song structure; design patterns and musical motifs are at the same level of abstraction; programmatic idioms and musical rhythms and scales are isomorphic

Grady Booch

Papers

Software Abundance in the Face of Economic Scarcity, Part 1

Software Archeology and the Handbook of Software Architecture

From Minecraft to Minds

To Code or Not to Code, That Is the Question

The Well-Tempered Architecture