Software Engineering Commons^™

Code Search Via Topic-Enriched Dependence Graph Matching, Shaowei Wang, David Lo, Lingxiao Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Source code contains textual, structural, and semantic information, which can all be leveraged for effective search. Some studies have proposed semantic code search where users can specify query topics in a natural language. Other studies can search through system dependence graphs. In this paper, we propose a semantic dependence search engine that integrates both kinds of techniques and can retrieve code snippets based on expressive user queries describing both topics and dependencies. Users can specify their search targets in a free form format describing desired topics (i.e., high-level semantic or functionality of the target code); a specialized graph query language …

Verification Of Orchestration Systems Using Compositional Partial Order Reduction, Tian Huat Tan, Yang Liu, Jun Sun, Jin Song Dong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Orc is a computation orchestration language which is designed to specify computational services, such as distributed communication and data manipulation, in a concise and elegant way. Four concurrency primitives allow programmers to orchestrate site calls to achieve a goal, while managing timeouts, priorities, and failures. To guarantee the correctness of Orc model, effective verification support is desirable. Orc has a highly concurrent semantics which introduces the problem of state-explosion to search-based verification methods like model checking. In this paper, we present a new method, called Compositional Partial Order Reduction (CPOR), which aims to provide greater state-space reduction than classic partial …

Cooperative Reinforcement Learning In Topology-Based Multi-Agent Systems, Dan Xiao, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Topology-based multi-agent systems (TMAS), wherein agents interact with one another according to their spatial relationship in a network, are well suited for problems with topological constraints. In a TMAS system, however, each agent may have a different state space, which can be rather large. Consequently, traditional approaches to multi-agent cooperative learning may not be able to scale up with the complexity of the network topology. In this paper, we propose a cooperative learning strategy, under which autonomous agents are assembled in a binary tree formation (BTF). By constraining the interaction between agents, we effectively unify the state space of individual …

An Architecture Maturity Model Of Software Product Line, Faheem Ahmed, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software architecture has been a key research area in the software engineering community due to its significant role in creating high-quality software. The trend of developing product lines rather than single products has made the software product line a viable option in the industry. Software product line architecture (SPLA) is regarded as one of the crucial components in the product lines, since all of the resulting products share this common architecture. The increased popularity of software product lines demands a process maturity evaluation methodology. Consequently,this paper presents an architecture process maturity model for software product line engineering to evaluate the …

Effective Communication Of Software Development Knowledge Through Community Portals, Christoph Treude, Margaret-Anne Storey

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Knowledge management plays an important role in many software organizations. Knowledge can be captured and distributed using a variety of media, including traditional help files and manuals, videos, technical articles, wikis, and blogs. In recent years, web-based community portals have emerged as an important mechanism for combining various communication channels. However, there is little advice on how they can be effectively deployed in a software project.In this paper, we present a first study of a community portal used by a closed source software project. Using grounded theory, we develop a model that characterizes documentation artifacts along several dimensions, such as …

Structural Complexity And Programmer Team Strategy: An Experimental Test, Narayan Ramasubbu, Chris F. Kemerer, Jeff Min Teck Hong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study develops and empirically tests the idea that the impact of structural complexity on perfective maintenance of object-oriented software is significantly determined by the team strategy of programmers (independent or collaborative). We analyzed two key dimensions of software structure, coupling and cohesion, with respect to the maintenance effort and the perceived ease-of-maintenance by pairs of programmers. Hypotheses based on the distributed cognition and task interdependence theoretical frameworks were tested using data collected from a controlled lab experiment employing professional programmers. The results show a significant interaction effect between coupling, cohesion, and programmer team strategy on both maintenance effort and …

Icodes: A Load-Planning System That Demonstrates The Value Of Ontologies In The Realm Of Logistical Command And Control (C2), Kym J. Pohl, Peter Morosoff

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, And Intuition, Jens Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

In recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation as the principal drivers of economic growth, this paper focuses on the human attributes that govern the behavior of the entrepreneur and the societal perceptions that influence the human environment in which the entrepreneur operates. Foremost among these human attributes is the experience-based nature of the human cognitive system that prepares us well for dealing with events that are closely related to our past experience, but forces us to learn by failure as we apply past methods to new situations. In particular, the paper discusses the difficulties that the human dependence on …

Semantic Transformation Of Search Requests For Improving The Results Of Web Search, Vladimir A. Fomichov, Anton V. Kirillov

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The paper describes a new method of constructing semantic expansions of search requests for improving the results of Web search. This method is based on the theory of K-representations -a new theory of designing semantic-syntactic analyzers of natural language texts with the broad use of formal means for representing input, intermediary, and output data. The current version of the theory is set forth in a monograph published by Springer in 2010. The stated approach is implemented with the help of the Web programming language Java: an experimental search system AOS (Aspect Oriented Search) has been developed.

Technology Assessment: Applied Infocyber Scenarios, John F. Halldane

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

CADRC and KML present an urgent need for analyzing the enormous volume of digital data in people centered applications. Adaptive knowledge-based collaborative agents were suggested. Amatrix for collaborative control, monitoring and management was outlined (Halldane Aug 2006) based on inline and crossline management principles. This introduced channels describing the technology and context, nodes of common parameters or attributes to link with other channels through secure analytical gates, then parallel tracks of meaningful criteria from performance, specifications, monitoring, to priorities. This is now applied in analytical scenarios to compare channels and tracks for assessing technology against meaningful infocyber tracks (Figure 1). …

An Intelligent Supply Chain Planning And Execution Environment, Jens Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Logistic planning and execution processes in a supply-chain are subject to a high level of complexity because of the number of parties and issues involved, the number of relationships that exist among them, and the dynamic nature of the execution environment. The large volume of data flowing through a sizable computer-based logistic planning and execution management environment that is based on rote data-processing principles tends to overwhelm the human users. As a result many opportunities for improving the efficiency of supply-chain processes and thereby reducing costs are overlooked by the human users, who are forced into a reactive mode. Similar …

An Agent Facilitated Design Conversation System For Facilitating The Designer In Creative Thinking In Architectural Design, Geeta Arjun, Jim Plume

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The paper discusses a current research that investigates if a computer aided conversation system can be created to support the human thought process in the early stages of architectural design. It argues that design conversations are an essential premise for designing, especially at the early stages, when the designer has to brainstorm ideas to generate creative conceptual solution-conjectures. The paper also argues that design knowledge is mainly dependent on a designer’s experiences. But experiential knowledge, stored in the long term memory is difficult to recall. Based on these arguments, an agent-based knowledge system, Design Thinker, is designed to allow for …

Preconference Proceedings Of The Focus Symposium On Intelligent Information Management Systems, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Learning In Software Development Teams, Matthew Hale, Rose Gamble, Kimberly Wilson, Anupama Narayan

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Recently Web 2.0 has emerged as a framework to study collaborative learning. Assessing learning in team projects is one mechanism used to improve teaching methodologies and tool support. Web 2.0 technologies enable automated assessment capabilities, leading to both rapid and incremental feedback. Such feedback can catch problems in time for pedagogic adjustment, to better guide students toward reaching learning objectives. Our courseware, SEREBRO, couples a social, tagging enabled, idea network with a range of modular toolkits, such as wikis, feeds and project management tools into a Web 2.0 environment for collaborating teams. In this paper, we first refine a set …

Defending Against Cross Site Scripting Attacks, Lwin Khin Shar, Hee Beng Kuan Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Researchers have proposed multiple solutions to cross-site scripting, but vulnerabilities continue to exist in many Web applications due to developers' lack of understanding of the problem and their unfamiliarity with current defenses' strengths and limitations.

Formalizing Reusable Aspect-Oriented Concurrency Control, Neelam Soundarajan, Derek Bronish, Raffi Khatchadourian

Publications and Research

Java and its library provide powerful concurrency control mechanisms. However, their use can lead to similar synchronization code scattered across multiple classes, synchronization and functional code being tangled together, and similar code being duplicated in many applications. Aspect-oriented (AO) programming makes it possible to address these problems. However, the specific behavior of systems built using AO techniques can be challenging to comprehend. We propose a specification approach to precisely express such systems' critical concurrency and synchronization properties. We illustrate the method with a simple example.

Automatic Content Generation For Video Self Modeling, Ju Shen, Anusha Raghunathan, Sen-Ching S. Cheung, Ravi R. Patel

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Video self modeling (VSM) is a behavioral intervention technique in which a learner models a target behavior by watching a video of him or herself. Its effectiveness in rehabilitation and education has been repeatedly demonstrated but technical challenges remain in creating video contents that depict previously unseen behaviors. In this paper, we propose a novel system that re-renders new talking-head sequences suitable to be used for VSM treatment of patients with voice disorder. After the raw footage is captured, a new speech track is either synthesized using text-to-speech or selected based on voice similarity from a database of clean speeches. …

A Hybrid Agent Architecture Integrating Desire, Intention And Reinforcement Learning, Ah-Hwee Tan, Yew-Soon Ong, Akejariyawong Tapanuj

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents a hybrid agent architecture that integrates the behaviours of BDI agents, specifically desire and intention, with a neural network based reinforcement learner known as Temporal DifferenceFusion Architecture for Learning and COgNition (TD-FALCON). With the explicit maintenance of goals, the agent performs reinforcement learning with the awareness of its objectives instead of relying on external reinforcement signals. More importantly, the intention module equips the hybrid architecture with deliberative planning capabilities, enabling the agent to purposefully maintain an agenda of actions to perform and reducing the need of constantly sensing the environment. Through reinforcement learning, plans can also be …

Online Assistance, Imran Khan

All Capstone Projects

From the introduction: "This project entitled Online Assistance is efficient and designed to do only one thing, facilitate communications between help desk staff and end users. The overriding design goal is to be as simple and frictionless for both users and help desk staff as is possible. It can leverage SQL server for membership and role based security or integrate with windows authentication and Active Directory groups.

Software Engineering occurs as a consequence of a process called “System Engineering”. Instead of concentrate solely on software, system-engineering focuses on a variety of elements like Analyzing, Designing and organizing these elements into …

Automated Detection Of Likely Design Flaws In Layered Architectures, Aditya Budi, - Lucia, David Lo, Lingxiao Jiang, Shaowei Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Layered architecture prescribes a good principle for separating concerns to make systems more maintainable. One example of such layered architectures is the separation of classes into three groups: Boundary, Control, and Entity, which are referred to as the three analysis class stereotypes in UML. Classes of different stereotypes are interacting with one another, when properly designed, the overall interaction would be maintainable, flexible, and robust. On the other hand, poor design would result in less maintainable system that is prone to errors. In many software projects, the stereotypes of classes are often missing, thus detection of design flaws becomes non-trivial. …