sss ssss rrrrrrrrrrr
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sssss s rrrr rrrr
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ssssssss rrrr rrrr
ssssss rrrrrrrrr
s ssssss rrrr rrrr
ss sssss rrrr rrrr
sss sssss rrrr rrrr
s sssssss rrrrr rrrrr
+===================================================+
+======= Testing Techniques Newsletter (TTN) =======+
+======= ON-LINE EDITION =======+
+======= May 1997 =======+
+===================================================+
TESTING TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER (TTN), On-Line Edition, is E-mailed
monthly to support the Software Research, Inc. (SR) user community and
provide information of general use to the worldwide software testing
community.
(c) Copyright 1997 by Software Research, Inc. Permission to copy and/or
re-distribute is granted to recipients of the TTN On-Line Edition
provided that the entire document/file is kept intact and this copyright
notice appears with it.
========================================================================
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
o QW'97 -- Final Reminder
o National Software Council Free Seminar: 22 May 1997, Boston, MA
o QW'97 -- Panel Discussion: How Does Java Address Software Quality?
o Year 2000 Compliance Checklist, by Don O'Neill
o Master Class in Software Safeway offered by Prof. Nancy Leveson
and Prof. Trevor Kletz.
o Your Worst Testing Nightmare: A Contest
o Call for Papers: CSMRE'98 (Conference on Softwre Maintanance and
Re-Engineering, Florence, Italy, March 1998)
o TestWorks Corner -- Embedded System Support
o Call for Participation: 3nd Internatinal Baltic Workshop on DB and
IS, April 1998, Riga Latvia
o Academic Discounts For TestWorks Available
o Software Technology and Engineering Practice: STEP '97 (London,
July 1997)
o 5th International Symposum on Assessment of Software Tools and
Technologies (Pittsburgh, June 1997)
o Evaluating TTN-Online
o TTN-Online -- Mailing List Policy Statement
o TTN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
========================================================================
Quality Week 1997 (QW'97)
27-30 May 1997
<http://www.soft.com/QualWeek>
Regular TTN-Online readers already saw the complete QW'97 program in
earlier issues. Here are some last-minute points!
* Less than two weeks to go before Quality Week 1997! Register ONLINE
at the WebSite or call/fax to reserve your seat.
Visa/MasterCard/AMEX.
* Special "How Does Java Enhance Software Quality?" Panel Session
chaired by Robert Binder featuring industry experts and
representatives of JAVA testing tool suppliers. (See article
elsewhere in this issue.)
* QW'97 will feature Birds Of Feather Sessions (BOFSs), organized by
QW'97 Advisory Board member Danny Faught (E-Mail:
faught@convex.hp.com).
* Want extra copies of the QW'97 brochure to your friends? Download a
PostScript version of the QW'97 Conference Brochure direct from the
QW'97 Conference HomePage. There's a *pdf-format copy also if you
want to view the brochure from AdobeAcrobat.
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Quality Week '97 | Phone: [+1] (415) 550-3020 |
| SR/Institute, Inc. | Toll Free: 1-800-942-SOFT |
| 901 Minnesota Street | FAX: [+1] (415) 550-3030 |
| San Francisco, CA 94107 USA USA | E-Mail: qw@soft.com |
| | Web: http://www.soft.com/QualWeek |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
========================================================================
THE NATIONAL SOFTWARE COUNCIL
Presents A FREE SEMINAR
Thursday, 22 May 1997 - 10:30AM to 12:30PM -
Hynes Convention Center, Room 203,
Boston, Massachusetts
(site of ICSE 97 and Database/Client-Server World)
"Software is a keystone/cornerstone of the bridge to the twenty-first
century."
The National Software Council is an independent organization dedicated
to keeping the U.S. software industry strong, to growing its
contribution to the national well-being, and to nurturing a solid
foundation for trust in software. It provides a nonpartisan voice for
software issues affecting our nation. The NSC serves the software
interests of industry, academia, government, software professionals, and
the public. It fills a national leadership role forecasting and
resolving software problems by addressing software issues of national
importance and informing senior officials in government, industry, and
academia as well as the public.
THE SEMINAR PROGRAM:
o Larry Bernstein, President of the NSC presents an overview of the NSC
including new directions.
o John Marciniak, Past President of the NSC and current Board Member,
discusses the current NSC program. This discussion will include:
o Current Operating Model
o NSC Program (Value Add Study, Trustworthy Systems, Educational
Programs)
o SEMINAR PANEL: "SECTOR PERSPECTIVES OF THE NSC" - Why we need a NSC
Think Tank and how it will serve the sectors of our society
Panel Participants:
o Moderator, John Marciniak, NSC
o Industry: Les Belady, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer,
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
o Academia: Alan Hevner, University of South Florida
o Government: Sam DiNitto, Chief, Software Technology Division, Rome
Laboratory, USAF
Attendance at the NSC Seminar includes free admission to the
Database/Client-Server World Exhibition. For information please send
E-mail to: nsc@nscusa.org
========================================================================
QW'97 Panel Discussion:
How Does Java Address Software Quality?
The Java language and associated technology has taken software
development by storm. Discussion of Java at conferences and in the
press has mostly focused on technical details and novel applications.
This panel will look at Java from a different point of view: In what
respects does Java obviate bugs? Does Java development present any new
sources of trouble or cause for concern?
A key question is whether Java is a "paradigm shift" or simply yet
another programming language. Java assumes server-centric computing, so
it has implications for both infrastructure as well as software. If all
this is a paradigm shift, then can we expect a corresponding improvement
in Java software quality? If it is not, then does it compare favorably
with established technologies?
Panelists will consider:
* How much of Java's promise is due to its fat-server/skinny client
approach?
* What quality problems/strategies are the same with Java development?
* What quality problems/strategies are different with Java development?
* To what extent must we follow the Java model to realize its benefits?
* How should we allocate our quality portfolio (e.g., 25% prototyping,
50% unit test, 25% system test)?
* What kind of development environment (e.g., web servers, multiple
client OS, multiple browsers) is necessary?
* What kind of apps are good (bad) candidates for Java implementation?
* What can we do to improve testability?
* What are reasonable expectations for quality costs and benefits with
Java development?
Panel Members:
Bob Binder, RBSC Corporation (Panel Chair)
Jonathan Beskin, RST Corporation
Edward Miller, Software Research, Inc.
Neil Smith, Visual Java Test Manager, Microsoft
Tony Wasserman, Software Methods & Tools
========================================================================
Year 2000 Compliance Checklist
by Don O'Neill
ONeillDon@aol.com
Software Inspections and the Year 2000 Problem
One of the leading indicators of Global Software Competitiveness is
Year 2000 compliance. The Year 2000 Problem promises to impact
information systems of all kinds. With no silver bullet available, the
responsible manager must rake a variety of actions to detect and
correct this problem.
A powerful mechanism for detecting and correcting the Year 2000 Problem
is the practice of Software Inspections. Software Inspections call for a
close and strict examination of software artifiacts against the standard
of excellence set by the organization. By explicitly setting the
standard of excellence for software products to operate correctly
before, during, and after the Year 2000 and by conducting Software
Inspections on those software products thought to be date sensitive, the
responsible manager is taking an important and prudent step to meet the
challenge.
In rolling out the Software Inspections Process within the organization,
a defined program of several activities is called for. Training is the
centerpiece of the Software Inspections roll out program. Three
audiences are targeted: practitioners, managers, and executives.
Year 2000 Compliance Checklist
In order to ensure that each module, program, and procedure and the
files they process fully comply with the proper date formats, the Year
2000 Compliance Checklist is applied during each Software Inspection.
This checklist is drawn from the Standard of Excellence checklists in
the Software Inspections Course and Lab, specifically the Design and
Code checklist for Multiple Views.
Here is the checklist:
> Has the product component been assessed for Year 2000 compliance?
* Is Year 2000 compliance specified as standard date format (such as,
YYYYMMDD)?
* Are all date related system services identified and Year 2000
compliant?
+ Are system date routines identified and Year 2000 compliant?
* Are all date related nodes and flow graphs identified and Year 2000
compliant?
+ Is internal date usage identified and Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all date representations identified and and Year 2000
compliant?
- Are all date transformation routine identified and Year 2000
compliant?
- Are all date related names identified and Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all date calculations and identified and Year 2000
compliant?
- Are all date uses in logical expressions identified and Year
2000 compliant?
- Are all leap year computations identified and Year 2000
compliant?
- Are all "looking backward" (from the Year 2000) calculations
identified and assessed as Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all "looking forward" (from the Year 2000) calculations
identified and assessed as Year 2000 compliant?
+ Are all files identified and and Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all external system interfaces identified and and Year 2000
compliant?
- Are all input and output date records formatted as standard
date format (such as, YYYYMMDD) and Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all extended semantics (embedded dates and sort keys)
identified and Year 2000 compliant?
- Are all imported files identified and Year 2000 compliant?
+ Has the Year 2000 Time Horizon to Failure (THF) been identified
for the application?
- What is the THF for the application?
Software Inspections Course and Lab
The Software Inspections Course and Lab is intended for practitioners
who will practice software inspections on the project. The course
permits an organization to detect and correct defects early and to
initiate defect prevention. The course equips participants to:
1. Act as inspection moderator
2. Brief other participants on the roles of reviewer, recorder, and
producer
3. Construct and manage checklists
4. Record issues raised and report the results to management
The course is composed of a lecture and lab. On day one the lecture
includes modules on each element of Software Inspections Process
including the structured review process, system of checklists, defined
roles of participants, and forms and reports. In addition videotaped
inspection situations are used to reinforce the preferred behaviors for
each role.
To apply the skills and knowledge acquired during day one, the Software
Inspection Lab provides the opportunity for each participant to play
each defined role. In this way, the concepts learned are put to
immediate use in a realistic situation, difficulties are encountered and
overcome, and the confidence to reapply these skills on a real project
is developed. The realism of the lab is achieved by requiring each
participant to bring to the course 5-10 pages of actual design or code
to be inspected.
Management Workshop for Software Inspections
The Management Workshop for Software Inspections is intended for the
managers of practitioners and their managers. The workshop facilitates
the installation of the Software Inspections within the organization.
The workshop equips participants to:
1. Carry out their organization responsibility for the Software
Inspections Process
2. Plan for Software Inspections and report their plans
3. Use software inspections on the project and report the results
4. Review inspection measurements and metrics for the project
5. Initiate defect prevention
The workshop is composed of lecture and discussion. The lecture includes
modules on the organization software process initiative, the Software
Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model, software inspection
element summary, measurements and metrics, coordination infrastructure,
and management objectives.
Executive Presentation on Software Inspections
The Executive Presentation on Software Inspections is intended for
senior managers. The objective of the presentation is to achieve the
level of awareness and understanding needed to obtain commitment and
sponsorship for the Software Inspections Program including the training
of practitioners and managers needed to install it. The presentation
asks and answers many frequently asked questions as it discusses the
purpose of software inspections, overviews the elements of software
inspections, presents the roll out program and training plan, and
introduces typical measurements and metrics with special focus on return
on investment.
========================================================================
MASTER CLASS IN SOFTWARE SAFETY
Editors Note: This topic is so close to TTN-Online's area of
interest, and the speakers have such a good reputation, that you
should give it special consideration.
INSTRUCTOR: Professor Nancy Leveson, Boeing Professor of Computer
Science and Engineering, University of Washington
GUEST SPEAKER: Professor Trevor Kletz, Department of Chemical
Engineering, Loughborough University of Technology
LOCATION: Cambridge University, UK
DATES: 4, 5 and 6 June 1997 This course will be in two parts, which may
be attended separately or together.
PART 1 (Wednesday, 4 June 1997): Management of safety-critical software
projects.
This part of the masterclass will focus on the causes of accidents in
high-technology systems, the nature of risk when computers are used to
control hazardous systems, the role of humans in accidents and in
computer-based systems, accident models, and systems and software
project management issues such as organization, documentation, process
and tasks.
Part 1 will be of broad interest to project and technical managers with
responsibility for safety-critical systems, as well as to practising
software and safety engineers.
PART 2 (Thursday and Friday, 5 and 6 June 1997): Technical aspects of
software safety.
Here the focus will be on the unique problems involved in building
safety-critical software and techniques that can be used to enhance the
safety of software-controlled systems. Emphasis will be on procedures
and techniques that are practical enough to be applied to projects
today. Real-project experiences with these techniques in different
application areas will be described. Part 2 will be of particular
interest to practitioners. Numbers will be limited to encourage
interaction. Attendance of Part 1 is recommended, but not an essential
pre-requisite for participation in Part 2.
Conference Contact:
42 Devonshire Road
Cambridge
CB1 2BL
United Kingdom
Phone: [+44] (1223) 323.437
Fax: [+44] (1223) 460.396
Email: cc@confcon.demon.co.uk
Nancy Leveson's URL is:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/projects/safety/www/
========================================================================
YOUR WORST TESTING NIGHTMARE: A CONTEST!
We know there must be a million nightmarish stories about "what happend
to me when I tried to test..." out there. And we think a lot of you
would find comfort in comparing your own nightmare with those others
write about. Or, putting it another way, misery loves company!
Here is the contest in a nutshell: Submit a short writeup (try to keep
in to fewer than 250 words) of your worst software testing nightmare.
We'll pick one or more nightmare stories per month and publish them in
TTN-Online.
The Prize: You get the comfort of sleeping better knowing you have kept
someone else up worrying about YOUR nightmare. And, we will send a
check for $50 to the nightmare voted by our staff the worst one we
received (well, we mean the best, i.e. the most worst, well, you
know...) every month. You can't win the $50 unless you enter! So, get
it off your chest and share your Testing Nightmare with the community!
========================================================================
Call for Papers: CSMRE'98
2nd EUROMICRO WORKING CONFERENCE on
SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND REENGINEERING
Florence, Italy -- March 9-11, 1998
The purpose of the working conference is to promote discussion and
interaction about a series of topics which are yet underrepresented. We
are particularly interested in exchanging concepts, prototypes, research
ideas, and other results which could contribute to the academic arena
and also benefit business and industrial community. Researcher,
practitioners, technology transition experts, project managers,
developers and users of tools, are all welcome.
Topics of interest include but are not restricted to: Maintenance and
Reengineering Tools (CARE-Tools), Reverse Engineering Tools, Support of
Reengineering Tasks by CASE-Tools, Software Reusability, Tele-
Maintenance (Concepts, Experiences, Use of New Technologies),
Maintainability of Programming Languages (e.g., OOPLs), Models and
Methods for Error Prediction, Measurement of Software Quality,
Maintenance Metrics, Formal Methods, Maintenance and Reengineering of
KBS, Reengineering and Reverse Engineering Concepts, Experiences from
Redesign and Reengineering Projects, Millennium Problem (Year 2000),
Euro Problem, Organizational Framework and Models for "RE"-Projects,
Software Evolution, Migration and Maintenance Strategies, Design for
Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Personnel Aspects of Maintenance
(Motivation, Team building), Third Party Maintenance, Empirical Results
about the Maintenance Situation in Businesses, Version and Configuration
Management, Legal Aspects and Jurisdiction, Organization and Management
of Large Maintenance Projects, Software Offloading, Related Areas such
as Software Documentation.
Program Committee:
V.S. Alagar, USA; A. Ambriola, I; G. Bakker, NL; K. Bennett, UK; A.
Bertolino, I; F. Brito e Abreu, P; G. Bucci, I; M. Campanai, I; A.
Cimitile, I; I. Classen, D; L. da F. Costa, BR; J.A. de La Puente,
S; A. Fantechi, I; J.-L. Hainaut, B; J. Harauz, USA; B. Henderson-
Sellers, AU; M. Hinchey, USA; F. Lehner, D; E.-A. Karlsson, S; T.M.
Khoshgoftaar, USA; P. Laplante, USA; S. Liu, J; M. Loewe, D; M.
Marchesi, I; T.J. Marlowe, USA; E. Miller, USA; J.-M. Morel, F; D.
Natale, I; P. Nesi, I; S. Nocentini, I; M. Pezze`, I; P.T. Poon,
USA; L. Richter, CH; D. Rombach, D; G. Sechi, I; J. Sommerville, UK;
A. Stoyenko, USA; J. Taramaa, SF; H. Toetenel, NL; G. Tsai, USA; Y.
Yamaguchi, J.
SUBMISSIONS: There are two types of papers: full length papers (not
exceeding 4000 words in length and including a 150-200 word abstract)
and short papers (not exceeding 2000 words in length and including a
75-100 word abstract). Authors are strongly encouraged to send a
PostScript version of their paper by anonymous ftp to ftp.dsi.unifi.it
and put this file into the directory pub/CSMR98/incoming (in order to
avoid overwritings, the PostScript file should be
named:.ps). In addition, they
should send by e-mail to CSMR98@ozon180.ing.unifi.it the title of the
paper, full names, affiliations, postal and e-mail addresses of all
authors, fax and telephone numbers.
Proceeding will be published by IEEE Computer Society. Full papers
exceeding 8 pages (short papers 4 pages) will be charged for pages in
excess. For more information please contact the organization at the
addresses:
csmr98@ozon180.ing.unifi.it
http://www.isst.fhg.de/csmr
http://www.dsi.unifi.it/~nesi/csmr98
Program Chair:
Paolo Nesi
Dip. Sistemi e Informatica, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze
Via S. Marta, 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Tel: +39-55-4796523 Fax: +39-55-4796363
email: nesi@ingfi1.ing.unifi.it
========================================================================
TestWorks Corner -- Embedded System Support
A Report from Embedded Systems Magazine
TestWorks supports cross-testing and host/target coverage data
collection by making a source version of the runtime in "C" available.
On a UNIX or Windows host the user cross-compiles the runtime source for
the target, making local adustments that support delivering the
tracefile from the target back to the host.
The 1997 Embedded Systems Programming Subscriber Study shows that
Software Research has a good portion of the Software Testing Tool users
market among embedded developers.
Which SOFTWARE TESTING TOOL vendors HAVE YOU USED in the last 12 months
for your embedded designs?(base 62):
ANY VENDOR (net)...... 60 %
Applied Microsystems.. 13 %
Verilog............... 11 %
Software Research..... 10 %
Pure/Atria............ 10 %
Object Software........ 7 %
CenterLine Software.... 3 %
ParaSoft............... 1 %
IntegriSoft............ 1 %
Reliable Software Tech. 1 %
LDRA Technology........ 1 %
Bullseye Software...... 1 %
VisionSoft............. 1 %
Eastern Systems........ --
More importantly, though, a whopping 84% of respondents (388 total) said
that they either hadn't used a Software Testing Tool or didn't know if
they had used one. The chart above represents only 16% of the total
respondents to the survey.
For information and further details about how to do embedded testing
efficiently contact sales@soft.com.
========================================================================
CALL FOR PAPERS
Third International Baltic Workshop on DB and IS
15-17 April 1998
Riga, Latvia
ORGANIZED by:
University of Latvia
Riga Information Technology Institute
Riga Technical University (approval pending)
SUPPORTED by:
Information Technology Committee, Baltic Council of Ministers (approval pending)
SPONSORED by:
The VLDB Baltic Fund; other sponsors pending.
OBJECTIVE
This workshop is continuing a series of bi-annual Baltic workshops on
databases and information systems. The previous workshops were held in
Lithuania in 1994 and in Estonia in 1996.
The Baltic workshops are thought as an international forum for technical
discussion among researchers and developers of database and information
systems. The aim of the workshop is to consolidate views as well as to
enhance communication between the database researchers and the community
that uses database systems for building information systems.
The objective of the workshop is to bring together researchers as well
as practitioners and PhD students in the field of database research that
will improve the construction of future information systems. On the
other hand, the workshop is giving opportunities to developers, users
and researchers of advanced IS technologies to present their work and to
exchange their ideas and at the same time providing a feedback for
database community.
The word Baltic in the workshop title has twofold meaning: first, it
indicates three Baltic countries rapidly developing their infrastructure
IS on the basis of advanced DB and IS technologies; second, it points to
the Baltic Sea which does not only separate but also can join different
countries as well as research communities in these countries to give
them opportunities to exchange ideas and to trigger collaborations.
STRUCTURE AND TOPICS OF INTEREST
The workshop language is English (talks as well as publications). The
workshop is planned to include four main tracks: traditional research
track on data base issues, regional IT infrastructure (government
regulations, conventions, education, networks, registers, etc.),
advanced information systems and software technology track, and a track
to recover once famous Riga compter program synthesis, testing,
verification and debugging conferences. To activate and motivate PhD
students the workshop programme will be preceeded by one-day Doctoral
Consortium chaired by invited professors.
RESEARCH TRACK
Academic researchers are invited to submit extended abstracts describing
their research activities. Major research topics for the workshop will
include, but are not limited to:
- Foundations of databases
- Logic and databases
- Object-oriented, deductive and active databases
- Client-Server and open networked database systems
- Distributed database techniques and interoperability
- Information System modeling
- Linguistic components of IS
- Information System and Data Communication security
- Knowledge Bases
- Hypertext Interface for IS
- Requirements Engineering for IS
- Integrated IS
- Information management economics
- Computer program synthesis
- Software testing automation
- Computer program verification
TECHNOLOGY TRACK
The purpose of the Technology Track is to provide opportunities for
developers, users, and researchers to communicate and collaborate in
advancing database applications and IS technologies. Solicited topics
include novel application of databases or database technology in
infrastructure settings, business process reengineering, software
development automation, IS quality.
Actual case studies from practitioners emphasizing applications,
database and IS technology, system deployment, or business impact are
especially welcome.
Developers are invited to submit extended abstracts describing their
latest product innovations. Topics of interest include but are not
limited to: - Database development tools - IS and AI technologies -
National information infrastructure development - Regional and national
infrastructure IS and database applications - Integrated and
interoperable database technologies - Telecommunication databases -
Multimedia database applications - Scientific applications
DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM
PhD students are invited to submit abstracts describing their current
work. Topics will be in line with the main workshop topics, and the
deadline for abstracts is December 1, 1998.
SUBMISSION AND REVIEWS OF THE PAPERS
Authors are invited to submit original research contributions in the
form of extended abstracts at least in 6 pages or full papers that
should not be longer than 12 pages. WE ENCOURAGE ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS
IN THE FORM OF WORD, POSTSCRIPT, LATEX, ETC. If hardcopies are
submitted, four copies will be required.
Each submitted paper will be reviewed by at least three programme
committee members.
For further information, please send email to: Juris.Borzovs@dati.lv
For electronic submission, please send email to: jbarzdin@cclu.lv
For hardcopy submission, please send 4 copies to:
Prof. Janis Barzdins
PC Chair Baltic DB&IS'98
Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Latvia
Raina bulvaris 29
LV-1459 Riga
Latvia
IMPORTANT DATES:
Deadline for papers : December 1, 1997
Notification of acceptance : January 15, 1998
Camera-ready papers: February 16, 1998
Workshop dates: April 15-17, 1998
Doctoral Consortium: April 14, 1998
WORKSHOP ORGANIZATION
Advisory Committee: Janis Bubenko, Royal Institute of Technology,
Sweden; Arne Solvberg, University of Trondheim, Norway
Programme Chair: Janis Barzdins, Inst. of Math. and Comp. Science,
University of Latvia, Latvia
Organizing Chair: Juris Borzovs, Riga Institute of Information
Technology, Latvia
========================================================================
ACADEMIC DISCOUNTS FOR TestWorks AVAILABLE
Researchers and teachers should take note of the possibility for
substantial discounts on copies of TestWorks installed at bona fide
academic departments and associated research institutions. In many
instannces when TestWorks products will be used in a technical course
the license fees can be waived completely.
For complete information about the TestWorks Academic Discount program
please contact sales@soft.com.
========================================================================
Software Technology and Engineering Practice: STEP'97
8th International Workshop (inc. CASE'97)
14-18 July 1997, London, UK.
Software and systems development, evolution, and management are
undergoing dramatic change as we move into the 21st century, with the
result that the processes, skills, and tools which support all aspects
of software development will undergo radical change during the next few
years.
STEP'97 is the premier world event for drawing together practitioners
and researchers concerned with supporting the software and systems
development, evolution, and management process. The workshop will
feature experience reports, research papers, evaluations, and surveys of
current practices. A particular feature of this event is the
participation by attendees in a series of workshops on important aspects
of current and future tools, methods, and techniques.
For a complete schedule and all registration details contact:
Irene Beech
UMIST, PO Box 88,
Manchester M60 1QD,
United Kingdom
Voice: +44 161 200 3331;
FAX: +44 161 200 3745
URL: http://www.co.umist.ac.uk/STEP97
Email: STEP97@umist.ac.uk
STEP97 is sponsored by:
International Workshop on CASE British Telecommunications plc
Institution of Electrical Engineers British Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering
In cooperation with: Australian Computer Society and UMIST
========================================================================
Fifth International Symposium on
Assessment of Software Tools and Technologies
Theme: Component-Based Software Engineering
2-5 June 1997
Westin William Penn Hotel
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Keynote Presenters:
Mary Shaw, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Desmond D'Souza, ICON, USA
Keith Short, Texas Instruments, USA
For further information:
URL: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/~case/sast97
email: sast97@sei.cmu.edu
Contact: Lorraine Nemeth at 412-268-7777.
Major changes are taking place in the way large-scale software-intensive
systems are being developed, fielded, and updated. During the past few
years a range of technical, economic, and social factors have come
together to encourage a new way of software engineering that is often
referred to as component-based software engineering. This approach
treats system development as the assessment, assembly, and evolution of
components within a well-defined architectural framework to match the
needs of organizations using these systems. Often the components are
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products ranging from operating systems
and databases to a variety of software tools.
In pursuing a component-based approach there are many obstacles to
overcome. While many of these are non-technical in nature (e.g. legal
liability issues, business case justification), significant technical
issues must also be faced. Typical questions to be addressed include:
How are components evaluated and selected? How is a component-based
system assembled to ensure it has appropriate qualities? Can commercial
components effectively be used in systems requiring high reliability,
availability, or performance? What are the most appropriate
architectures for flexible assembly and upgrade of component-based
systems? What factors inhibit communication and data sharing among
components? Such questions must be answered to improve the impact of
component-based software engineering, and hence form the basis of this
symposium.
A particular interest of the symposium is the selection and evaluation
of software tools, both as an example of software systems that are being
developed from components, and as key enablers to supporting software
developers in creating new application systems. For this reason topics
in the area of software tools assessment will receive particular
attention at this symposium.
========================================================================
EVALUATING TTN-ONLINE: GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS
TTN-Online is free and aims to be of service to the larger software
quality and testing community. To better our efforts we need YOUR
FEEDBACK!
Please take a minute and E-mail us your thoughts about TTN-Online?
Is there enough technical content?
Are there too many or too few paper calls and conference announcements?
Is there not enough current-events information? Too much?
What changes to TTN-Online would you like to see?
We thrive on feedback and appreciate any comments you have. Simply
address your remarks by E-mail to "ttn@soft.com".
========================================================================
TTN-Online -- Mailing List Policy Statement
Some subscribers have asked us to prepare a short statement outlining
our policy on use of E-mail addresses of TTN-Online subscribers. This
issue, and several other related issues about TTN-Online, are available
in our "Mailing List Policy" statement. For a copy, send E-mail to
ttn@soft.com and include the word "policy" in the body of the E-mail.
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------------>>> TTN SUBMITTAL POLICY <<<------------
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The TTN Online Edition is E-mailed the 15th of each month to subscribers
worldwide. To have your event listed in an upcoming issue E-mail a
complete description and full details of your Call for Papers or Call
for Participation to "ttn@soft.com".
TTN On-Line's submittal policy is as follows:
o Submission deadlines indicated in "Calls for Papers" should provide
at least a 1-month lead time from the TTN On-Line issue date. For
example, submission deadlines for "Calls for Papers" in the January
issue of TTN On-Line would be for February and beyond.
o Length of submitted non-calendar items should not exceed 350 lines
(about four pages). Longer articles are OK and may be serialized.
o Length of submitted calendar items should not exceed 60 lines (one
page).
o Publication of submitted items is determined by Software Research,
Inc. and may be edited for style and content as necessary.
DISCLAIMER: Articles and items are the opinions of their authors or
submitters and TTN-Online disclaims any responsibility for their
content.
TRADEMARKS: STW, TestWorks, CAPBAK, SMARTS, EXDIFF, Xdemo, Xvirtual,
Xflight, STW/Regression, STW/Coverage, STW/Advisor, TCAT, TCAT-PATH, T-
SCOPE and the SR logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Software Research, Inc. All other systems are either trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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----------------->>> TTN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION <<<-----------------
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To SUBSCRIBE to TTN-Online, to CANCEL a current subscription, to CHANGE
an address (a CANCEL and a SUBSCRIBE combined) or to submit or propose
an article, send E-mail to "ttn@soft.com".
TO SUBSCRIBE: Include in the body of your letter the phrase "subscribe
".
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Include in the body of your letter the phrase
"unsubscribe ".
TESTING TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER
Software Research, Inc.
901 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
Phone: +1 (415) 550-3020
Toll Free: +1 (800) 942-SOFT (USA Only)
FAX: +1 (415) 550-3030
E-mail: ttn@soft.com
WWW URL: http://www.soft.com
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