Evolution towards specifications environment: experiences with syntax editors
TL;DR: Two current projects that extend the syntax-editing paradigm to the specifications and design phases of the software life-cycle are described.
Abstract: Language-based editors have been thoroughly studied over the last 10 years and have been found to be less effective than originally thought. The paper reviews some relevant aspects of such editors, describes experiences with one such editor (Support), and then describes two current projects that extend the syntax-editing paradigm to the specifications and design phases of the software life-cycle.
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01 Jun 1992
TL;DR: Guidelines for an organized, disciplined approach to software development that is based on studies conducted by the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) since 1976 are presented.
Abstract: Guidelines for an organized, disciplined approach to software development that is based on studies conducted by the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) since 1976 are presented. It describes methods and practices for each phase of a software development life cycle that starts with requirements definition and ends with acceptance testing. For each defined life cycle phase, guidelines for the development process and its management, and for the products produced and their reviews are presented.
41 citations
01 Sep 1992
TL;DR: The SME provides an integrated set of experience-based management tools that can assist software development managers in managing and planning flight dynamics software development projects.
Abstract: This document presents the concepts and architecture of the Software Management Environment (SME), developed for the Software Engineering Branch of the Flight Dynamic Division (FDD) of GSFC. The SME provides an integrated set of experience-based management tools that can assist software development managers in managing and planning flight dynamics software development projects. This document provides a high-level description of the types of information required to implement such an automated management tool.
31 citations
TL;DR: A model whose verification conditions depend only on elementary symbolic execution of a trace table is presented, and the techniques can be applied informally to determine the functionality of complex interactions.
Abstract: A model whose verification conditions depend only on elementary symbolic execution of a trace table is presented. The method is applied to rather simple programs. However, even in large complex implementations, the techniques can be applied informally to determine the functionality of complex interactions. The technique is easy to learn (it is used in a freshman computer science course) and lends itself to automation. >
10 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that studies comparing extreme programming approaches with conventional CASE tool approaches are needed to help determine if the struggle to understand the constraint environment at a high level of abstraction is worthwhile or not, and that every subject-based experiment should consider and understand the performance of individuals.
Abstract: This paper reports the results of an experiment undertaken for the CADPRO (Constraints And the Decision PROject) project. Subjects with varied experience produced data flow diagrams (DFDs) using a DFD tool generated by CASEMaker, a meta-CASE tool. Half the subjects received routine notice of instances of internal (as opposed to hierarchical) methodological constraint violations via an unobtrusive window whilst the other half did not. The DFD tool automatically recorded subjects' delivery and constraint profiles. Video records, observer notes, and subject debriefings were also used to yield other performance data. While evidence was found in support of the research model underpinning the CADPRO project, the model needs to be revised to take into account the affects of human-computer interface constraints and the different speeds with which people work. We learnt an important lesson about subject randomisation, which is not to assume that all subjects can be treated alike if they share the minimum necessary experience thought required of the problem. We believe it is important for every subject-based experiment to consider and understand the performance of individuals. Because of the complexity of constraint environments in CASE tools we also conclude that studies comparing extreme programming approaches with conventional CASE tool approaches are needed to help determine if the struggle to understand the constraint environment at a high level of abstraction is worthwhile or not. Further experiments, possibly replication variants of this one, are needed to help validate our interpretations.
7 citations
Cites background from "Evolution towards specifications en..."
...…must, however, reflect on the user acceptance problems syntax-directed editors had because of the restrictions they imposed on program development (Zelkowitz, 1990; Khawaja and Urban, 1993): the constraint environments of any program editors used must be an integral part of any experimental…...
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...Any comparison work must, however, reflect on the user acceptance problems syntax-directed editors had because of the restrictions they imposed on program development (Zelkowitz, 1990; Khawaja and Urban, 1993): the constraint environments of any program editors used must be an integral part of any experimental designs....
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01 May 1991
TL;DR: The authors report on research experience using the Gandalf environment generation system as a prototyping vehicle for the Inscape environment, which included experimentation, incremental evolution, multiple views, the coupling of semantic and editing actions, and the use of domain-specific facilities.
Abstract: The authors report on research experience using the Gandalf environment generation system as a prototyping vehicle for the Inscape environment. A Gandalf-based environment consists of four parts: a structure editor kernel, which is simply linked into each executable, a set of grammar tables describing the language to the kernel in terms of its abstract syntax, one or more concrete syntax views, and a collection of action routines written in the extension language, ARL. Positive aspects of the research included experimentation, incremental evolution, multiple views, the coupling of semantic and editing actions, and the use of domain-specific facilities. Negative aspects consisted primarily of problems with presentation and object management. >
2 citations
Cites background from "Evolution towards specifications en..."
...It is not about experience with a syntax editor; Zelkowitz [3] treats this area, discussing a similar (specificationbased environment) application....
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...It is not about experience with a syntax edito~ Zelkowitz [3] treats this area, discussing a similar (specificationbased environment) application....
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References
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25 Apr 1984
TL;DR: The Arcturus system demonstrates several important principles that will characterize advanced Ada programming support environments, including conceptual simplicity, tight coupling of tools, and effective command and editing concepts.
Abstract: The Arcturus system demonstrates several important principles that will characterize advanced Ada programming support environments These include conceptual simplicity, tight coupling of tools, and effective command and editing concepts Arcturus supports interactive program development and permits the combined use of interpretive and compiled execution Arcturus is not complete however, as practical, mature environments for Ada must also support the development, analysis, testing, and debugging of concurrent programs These issues are currently being explored Arcturus, therefore is a platform for experimental exploration of key programming environment issues This paper focuses primarily on the current system, describing and illustrating some of its components, while issues less fully developed are more briefly described
28 citations
"Evolution towards specifications en..." refers background in this paper
...They are defined by the rewrite rules (axioms) on lines (6)--( 10 )....
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01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: The intent of this position statement is to relate the experience with the actual use of a syntax directed editor (Mentor) in different contexts: teaching, real software production, software maintenance and associated tasks, language design and development, development of programming tools and new programming structures.
Abstract: The intent of this position statement is to relate our experience with the actual use of a syntax directed editor (Mentor [5]) in different contexts: teaching, real software production, software maintenance and associated tasks, language design and development, development of programming tools and new programming structures.
26 citations
01 Jan 1981
12 citations
"Evolution towards specifications en..." refers background in this paper
...• ( 3 ) For c: = a the system derives the conditional T --,...
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...• (5) For the if statement, FSQ combines steps ( 3 ) and (4) to produce:...
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01 Mar 1990
TL;DR: The authors discuss the designs of AS*, the structure of the prototype implementation, and the formal verification of the underlying axioms in a specification.
Abstract: Consideration is given to AS*, a language-independent specification language to be embedded within an existing programming language for the purpose of providing extensions to existing systems. The initial implementation extends Pascal with AS* specifications (called ASPascal) and the toolset consists of a source code editing system built on top of a syntax editor called AS/SUPPORT, a Prolog verification tool called AS/VERIFY for checking the consistency of the specification, and a translator called AS/PC for converting the extended Pascal program into standard Pascal for compilation and execution. The authors discuss the designs of AS*, the structure of the prototype implementation, and the formal verification of the underlying axioms in a specification. >
7 citations
01 Nov 1988
TL;DR: An IBM PC-based environment, called SUPPORT, is being used for this class to enhance the concepts taught as well as to aid program development.
Abstract: At the University of Maryland, freshmen Computer Science majors are introduced to the process of computer programming through a new course that emphasizes methodology with mathematical formalism and program correctness as fundamental issues. An IBM PC-based environment, called SUPPORT, is being used for this class to enhance the concepts taught as well as to aid program development. This paper briefly describes the course, describes the SUPPORT system, and gives some early data on the use of this tool in the course.
3 citations