Browsing by Subject "Computer software -- Development"
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Item A comparison of black-box models for software evolution(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Fuentetaja, EduardoLast thirty years have seen the birth and maturity of software evolution as a specialized field inside the vast area covered by software engineering. Software evolution focuses on the study of how software systems change during their lifetime, trying to shed some light on the nature of that change and the relationships between system's attributes from one release to the next. Early empirical studies of software evolution discovered some patterns common to the evolution of every software system that was analyzed. These invariants were formalized in the "laws of software evolution." The election of the term law is intentional and expresses their universality. However, as this study intends to prove, the laws have undergone multiple revisions, and some early conclusions were contradicted by late discoveries, as new empirical studies of the evolution of software systems became available. One of the practical derivations of the laws is the inverse square model. The model explains the growth of evolutionary software systems during their lifetime and it can be used to forecast accurately a system's size many releases in the future, which allows management to plan and allocate resources well in advance. Although many papers have presented examples of software systems whose growth is successfully modeled by the inverse square equations, some recent studies present prove of just the opposite. The QUICK application, a web-based system developed locally at Texas Tech is one example of a system whose growth cannot be explained by the inverse square model. This motivated the analysis of the underlying reasons, finally found in the intrinsic limitations of the model. In addition, the present study proposes an alternative model, already suggested in some recent studies of software evolution, as a better alternative. The model is referred here as the "constant work rate" model and is based on a simple exponential relation. The present study includes a comparison of both inverse square and constant work rate models, presenting proof of the superiority of the constant work rate model.Item A web-based software system to support academic engineering advising(Texas Tech University, 2004-05) Neek, CyrusThe basic relationship for individual development and group experience (BRIDGE) is an advisory system designed and overseen by the Texas Tech University College of Engineering. It is intended to help incoming freshmen students learn basic engineering principles, problem solving, teamwork, and time organization. The BRIDGE software tool, which is the subject of this thesis, is a web-based software system to support this academic engineering advising function. The software is implemented to help administrators coordinate mentors and students in synchronizing events and schedules and managing resources.Item Analysis of software reengineering process and methodology in component-based computing(Texas Tech University, 2001-08) Cao, YoulingThe main objective of this research was to develop a methodology of migrating object-oriented programs to component-based programs. A general methodology based on software engineering principles was developed for the componentation from existing non-component-based object-oriented application to component-based application. The benefit of this methodology was evaluated through a case study involving COM/ActiveX applications. The methodology did not assume the existence of detail design documentation for the legacy object-oriented code. This methodology included six basic phases: (1) Software reverse engineering of legacy system; (2) Component-based redesign based on derived design documents; (3) Domain Engineering; (4) Component-based implementation; (5) Software forward engineering; (6) Component-based testing The process iterated between phases two, three, four, five and six until the performance and functionality matched project requirements. In addition to the methodology itself, software metrics was used to evaluate the software reengineering process and software reuse. This research focused on the analysis and evaluation of software reengineering process and methodology of component-based programming. It also used a new software reengineering methodology to reduce cost and time to develop new component-based applications derived from legacy object-oriented systems.Item Design of software for real-time multitasking control system(Texas Tech University, 1988-05) Chang, Hua Wu DavidThe trend in real-time control systems is toward using larger and more sophisticate software. The use of a realtime, multitasking operating system for providing an environment under which multiple tasks can be executed concurrently is considerable a good approach for developing the real-time control software. However, developing a successful real-time, multitasking control software is not easy. Several critical factors might be potential bottlenecks in the system. These factors are task definition, task control flow design, intertask communication, real-time response, interfaces with the outside world, mutual exclusion, and evaluation of performance. The objective of this thesis is to explore the implementation details of a real-time, multitasking control system (RMCS) and to provide insights and methods for mitigating problems contained in these factors. The insights and methods developed are illustrated through references to a successful implementation of a real-time, multitasking control system for semiconductor processing equipment.Item Internet collaboration and exchange for theatre (ICE-T): developing interactive network conferencing software for theatrical collaboration(Texas Tech University, 2000-08) Partridge, AllenNot availableItem Issues involving a CASE tool for architectural and detailed design(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Gao, CaiNot availableItem Managing cross-functional teams: an activity-theory approach to software development and documentation(Texas Tech University, 1999-05) Chandler, John RandolphWhile there is growing consensus in the literature that wider inclusion of technical communicators has potential for improving the processes by which software is developed there is little agreement regarding the extent of this inclusion, nor how it should be accomplished. This dissertation examines ways in which technical communicators participate in software development specifically, examining the complexities of their roles in interdisciplinary development teams. The trend toward interdisciplinary development teams is based upon recognition that the specialized skills and expertise of a number of disciplines have potential to improve software processes and products. Ideally, cross-functional processes and roles would take advantage of specialized disciplinary competencies and integrate them into a single, cohesive development effort. This combined effort is in many ways the rationale for cross-functional teams defined as a level of process maturity at which stages of development are characterized by interdisciplinary cooperation in delineating the process and resolving problems. This dissertation uses an Activity Theory approach to address many of the political and epistemic barriers inherent in contemporary development processes. Many theories posit that process improvement must evolve through careful management of various organizational behaviors. This perspective is complicated by recognition of two levels of organizational behavior: a formal level represented in "official" artifacts of the organization, and an informal level of human activity networks. The literature on knowledge management argues that a critical success factor for administering change in organizational processes is devising intervention strategies that reconcile these two dimensions of organizational behavior. In light of these issues, what factors should be considered in management strategies for software development process improvement, and how might these intervention strategies affect the roles of technical communicators'' This dissertation addresses these questions by examining various issues that shape contemporary software development models and practice. The first chapter reviews the literature pertinent to team development. The second chapter provides a rationale for activity theory as the lens through which the research is contextualized. Chapters HI and IV describe research methods and results of a case study investigation, which observes the activities and artifacts of a collaborative development project between a computer science course and technical communication course. And in the last chapter, this work suggests strategies for implementing a cross-functional approach to process improvement efforts.Item Object-oriented analysis and specification for real-time systems(Texas Tech University, 1990-12) Moon, Eunice Yoon-GilIt is important to provide a complete, consistent, and feasible requirements specification, especially for complex real-time systems. To maximize the effectiveness of object-oriented software development, it is ideal to apply the object-oriented approach to every stage of the software life cycle. In this research, an objectoriented analysis methodology which can be applied to real-time systems (OOART) has been developed and applied to an existing system. A message passing technique which employs the priority queue, and embeds the time constraints in each message, has also been developed. To represent the OOART in the resulting requirements specification, a set of graphical notations which not only supports the concepts of the object-oriented approach, but also supports the characteristics of realtime systems, has been utilized. As a case study, the OOART has been applied to a single wafer cleaning system which implements a distributed real-time control of semiconductor process equipment.Item Object-oriented development of a molecular dynamics animation tool (MDATool)(Texas Tech University, 1998-05) He, ChuguangNot availableItem Performance analysis of distributed object-oriented computing techniques(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Belkoura, Mohamed AmineThe aim of this thesis work is to test different performance criteria of three standards object-oriented distributed compudng techniques, which are CORBA, COM-DCOM, and Java RMI. Published benchmarks and test codes will be used to measure quantitative parameters, such as the delay and the throughput. The thesis project contains two sets of comparison tests. The first part focus on tesdng different CORBA implementations under the same condition, in order to match each implementadon with a specific class of distributed applicadons. The second part is a comparison between CORBA, COM/DCOM, and Java RMI, in regard to delay and throughput. This thesis project examines and evaluates distributed object oriented techniques. The quantitadve comparison provides to developers a valuable source of information that will help choosing the right middleware for the applicadon need.