Panos K. Linos

Crafting A Measurement Framework Using A goal-Question-Metric Approach

Panos K. Linos — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:47:21 PST

A discussion on assessing successful Software Engineering Measurement (SEM) programs.

Comprehension and Maintenance of Large Scale Multi-Language Software Applications: Open Issues and Challenges

Kostas Kontogiannis et al. — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:35:30 PST

During the last decade, the number of software applications that have been deployed as a collection of components implemented in different programming languages and paradigms has increased considerably. When such applications are maintained, traditional program comprehension and reengineering techniques may not be adequate. In this context, this working session aims to stimulate discussion around key issues relating to the comprehension, reengineering, and maintenance of multi-language software applications. Such issues include, but are not limited to, the formalization, management, exploration, and presentation of multi-language program dependencies, as well as the development of practical toolsets for automating and easing the comprehension and maintenance of multi-language software.

A metrics Tool for Multi-language .NET Software Applications

Panos K. Linos et al. — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:19:50 PST

The measurement of software metrics at the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) level can be as effective as measuring such metrics at the level of each individual language (e.g. VB, Java, C# etc.).

EPICS: A Service Learning Program at Butler University

Jonathan P. Sorenson et al. — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:57:13 PST

In this paper we present our experiences teaching EPICS (Engineering Projects In Community Service) at Butler University, a small, private university, from within the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. The EPICS program began at Purdue University in 1995. The idea behind EPICS is to have undergraduate students earn college credit for working on long-term, multi-semester projects to benefit charity and non-profit organizations. The projects are student-driven, under faculty supervision. There are many good reasons for having an EPICS program in an undergraduate computer science major. It is excellent for leveraging knowledge from other areas of computer science such as databases, networks, operating systems, and of course software engineering. The students are highly motivated because the project is real: there are real clients who use the software, making the software lifecycle come to life. Students practice teamwork, project management, professionalism, and communication skills. In our paper, we share feedback from our students on what EPICS means to them. At Butler, EPICS has been a success. Our EPICS program started in the Fall 2001 semester. We now have two ongoing projects: Spanish-In-Action (SIA), with Spanish middle school teachers from Crispus Attuchs Middle School in Indianapolis as clients, and Social Assets and Vulnerabilities Indicators (SAVI), with the POLIS Center at IUPUI as the client. We describe both projects in some detail in our paper. EPICS currently counts towards both the computer science major and the software engineering major as an elective at Butler. Our department has about 50 students and 4 full-time faculty, and each semester we have roughly 15 students enrolled in EPICS. We elaborate on how EPICS fits into our curriculum and provide details on how we deliver this course in our paper.

Guest Editorial: Special Issue on Software, Maintenance and Evolution

Panos K. Linos — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:11:11 PST

Software maintenance and evolution continues to play a vital role in the development of software systems. It is widely acknowledged that the majority of development effort, and thereby expenditure, is allocated to postinitial release activity. This activity, which takes place after the software has seen its first release, is known as software maintenance (or software evolution).

A Metrics Tool for Multi-language Software

Panos K. Linos et al. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:13:47 PDT

In this paper, we present a prototype tool that automates the process of detecting, gathering and visualizing multi-language software metrics at an intermediate-language level. More specifically, the current version of our tool focuses on code written using the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET software development environment. It facilitates the process of locating and extracting software metrics found at the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) level. We illustrate the basic functionality of our tool and we discuss a preliminary case study performed in order to verify its functionality and validate its usefulness. Based on the results of this study, we continue improving the tool. Our broader research goal is to show that complexity analysis of multi-language software, when it is done at an intermediate language level, it can be as effective as when conducted at the level of each individual language. This will eventually eliminate the need for developing different syntax parsers for each programming language used to develop multi-language software. The prototype tool described in this paper is the first step towards accomplishing such an objective.