2018/11/16

Introduction to the Meta’16 Workshop Special Issue

Filed under: Announcement,Issue TOC,Special Section Editorial — Alfonso Pierantonio @ 18:25

Guest Editors: Elisa Gonzalez Boixa (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Stefan Marr (University of Kent)

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This special issue represents a selection of the best papers of the workshop on Meta-Programming Techniques and Reflection 2016 (Meta’16). Meta’16 was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in October 2016 co-located with SPLASH’16.

Meta is an ACM SIGPLAN workshop for discussing research on metaprogramming and reflection. %, as well as users building applications, language extensions, or software tools using them.
The changing hardware and software landscape, and the increased heterogeneity of systems make metaprogramming once more an important research topic to handle the associate complexity. The scope of the workshop includes a wide range of topics related to design, implementation, and application of metaprogramming techniques, as well as empirical studies on and typing for such systems and languages.

The workshop welcomes mature contributions as well as work-in-progress contributions. A formal refereeing process selects a high-quality set of papers from those submitted at the workshop. Mature contributions are formally published in the workshop proceeding published electronically in the ACM Digital Library. The rest of papers are informally published at the workshop website. The JOT journal version of the papers offered an opportunity for the authors to take a longer term view of their research work and to present new results since the original presentation at Meta’16.

Meta’16 received 14 submissions, of which 7 full papers and 3 short papers were accepted and presented at the workshop. The guest editors of this special issue selected seven papers from Meta’16 workshop and invited their authors to submit an extended version of their paper, including at least 30\% of novel material. All papers have been reviewed by at least three reviewers, and have followed the reviewing process of the JOT journal until the final decision for each paper was reached.

After the journal’s rigorous reviewing process, the editors of this special issue finally selected the following two papers for publication:

  • Yutaro Tsunekawa, Taichi Tomioka, Kazunori Ueda. \textit{Implementation of LMNtal Model Checkers: a Metaprogramming Approach.} This paper discusses an approach for a meta-circular interpreter for prototyping model checkers.
  • Pablo Tesone, Guillermo Polito, Noury Bouraqadi, Stéphane Ducasse, Luc Fabresse. \textit{Dynamic Software Update from Development to Production.} This paper discusses a software update solution suitable for live programming environments.

As editors of this special issue, we hope you will enjoy the selection of papers.  We would like to sincerely thank the Meta’16 program committee and the anonymous referees who provided extensive feedback on the submitted papers; their reviews helped both authors and us, guest editors, to improve the quality of the submissions.

 

 

2010/07/08

Announcing JOT Volume 9, Number 4 (July 2010)

Filed under: Issue TOC — Tags: — Oscar Nierstrasz @ 11:07

JOT Volume 9, no. 4 (July 2010)

Editorial: Introducing the New JOT

By: Oscar Nierstrasz

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Article: A Dependence Representation for Coverage Testing of Object-Oriented Programs

By: ESF Najumudheen, Rajib Mall, Debasis Samanata

Abstract

We propose a dependence-based representation for object-oriented programs, named Call-based Object-Oriented System Dependence Graph (COSDG). Apart from structural features, COSDG captures important object-oriented features such as class, inheritance, polymorphism, and dynamic binding. Novel features of COSDG include details of method visibility in a derived class, and different types of method call edges to distinguish between various calling contexts — simple, inherited, and polymorphic. We also propose an algorithm for the construction of COSDG, and subsequently explain its working with an example. COSDG has been developed primarily to aid test coverage analysis. However, it can be used in a variety of other software engineering applications such as program slicing, software re-engineering, debugging, etc.

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Article: A UML and Colored Petri Nets Integrated Modeling and Analysis Approach using Graph Transformation

By: Elhillali Kerkouche, Algeria Allaoua Chaoui, El Bay Bourennane, Ouassila Labbani

Abstract

Nowadays, UML is considered to be the standardized language for object-oriented modeling and analysis. However, UML cannot be used for automatic analyses and simulation. In this paper, we propose an approach for transforming UML statechart and collaboration diagrams to Colored Petri net models. This transformation aims to bridge the gap between informal notation (UML diagrams) and more formal notation (Colored Petri net models) for analysis purposes. It produces highly-structured, graphical, and rigorously-analyzable models that facilitate early detection of errors such as deadlock and livelock. The approach is based on graph transformations where the input and output of the transformation process are graphs. The meta-modeling tool AToM3 is used. A case study is presented to illustrate our approach.

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Article: Extending Scala with Database Query Capability

By: Miguel Garcia, Anastasia Izmaylova, Sibylle Schupp

Abstract

The integration of database and programming languages is difficult due to the different data models and type systems prevalent in each field. We present a solution where the developer may express queries encompassing program and database data. The notation used for queries is based on comprehensions, a declarative style that does not impose any specific execution strategy. In our approach, the type safety of language-integrated queries is analyzed at compile-time, followed by a translation that optimizes for database evaluation. We show the translation total and semantics preserving, and introduce a language-independent classification. According to this classification, our approach compares favorably with Microsoft’s LINQ, today’s best known representative. We provide an implementation in terms of Scala compiler plugins, accepting two notations for queries: LINQ and the native Scala syntax for comprehensions. The prototype relies on Ferry, a query language that already supports comprehensions yet targets SQL:1999. The reported techniques pave the way for further progress in bridging the programming and the database worlds.

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Article: REquirements, Aspects and Software Quality: the REASQ model

By: Isi Castillo, Francisca Losavio, Alfredo Matteo, Jørgen Bøegh

Abstract

Object-oriented analysis and design have been more concerned with system functionality, neglecting non functional aspects; the result is code entanglement, difficult to maintain, contradicting main principles of object orientation. Aspect Oriented Software Development (AOSD) proposes the early specification of non functional requirements. However, a standard and homogenous vision of the AOSD terminology is still missing. The goal of this work is to integrate AOSD concepts, classic requirements engineering notions, and the new standard ISO/IEC 25030 on software quality requirements.The main result of this study is the REASQ (REquirements, Aspects and Software Quality) conceptual model, expressed in UML. All the modeling concepts are formalized into three related ontologies, representing the ambits of aspect-orientation, software quality and requirements engineering. The ontologies can be used as an umbrella to specify quality requirements in aspect-oriented engineering processes.

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Article: Using a Situational Method Engineering Approach to Identify Reusable Method Fragments from the Secure TROPOS Methodology

By: Graham Low, Haris Mouratidis, Brian Henderson-Sellers

Abstract

Situational method engineering (SME) has as a focus a repository of method fragments, gleaned from extant methodologies and best practice. Using one such example, the OPF (OPEN Process Framework) repository, we identify deficiencies in the current SME support for security-related issues in the context of agent-oriented software engineering. Specifically, theoretical proposals for the development of reusable security-related method fragments from the agent-oriented methodology Secure Tropos are discussed. Since the OPF repository has already been enhanced by fragments from Tropos and other non-security-focussed agent-oriented software development methodologies, the only method fragments from Secure Tropos not already contained in this repository are those that are specifically security-related. These are identified, clearly defined and recommended for inclusion in the current OPF repository of method fragments.

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Review: Succeeding With Agile: Software Development Using Scrum, by Mike Cohn

By: Charles Ashbacher

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