Frank Hernandez

Measuring the effort for creating and using domain-specific models

The use of domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) results in higher productivity during the development process. This is accomplished by raising the level of abstraction during design and focusing on domain concepts rather than low-level implementation details. Unlike other development paradigms, little work has been done in determining and measuring the claimed benefits of using DSMLs. In this paper, we propose a new approach to determine the effort involved in creating and using DSML models to develop applications and to manage the behavior of applications at runtime. The approach involves a classification of the effort involved, and definition of relevant metrics to measure the effort for each category. A case study is presented that shows how we applied the proposed metrics during the development and execution of an application using three different DSMLs.

Eberos GML2D: a graphical domain-specific language for modeling 2D video games

The complexity of game development has increased in the past 30 years, from a task that could almost be entirely handled by a single programmer to an endeavor requiring a large team. To reduce this complexity, we have developed a Domain-Specific Language (DSL) targeting the modeling of two-dimensional (2D) games. We call this language Eberos Game Modeling Language 2D (Eberos GML2D). By raising the level of abstraction through modeling, we allowed a simpler specification of the game, and reduced the time and programming efforts. In order to evaluate our approach, we modeled two games and compared the difference between the amount of work required to write the game from scratch and the amount required using our proposed language. These evaluations yielded promising results of 86.4% savings on programming effort, and 82.3% savings on programming time.

Exploring modeling language for multi-touch systems using petri nets

The motivation in this research endeavor is to design a flexible and compact modeling language for multi-touch gesture recognition using Petri Nets. The findings demonstrated that a Petri Net can be used effectively for gesture detection, with the potential for such a model to be composed of many Petri Nets for faster and user friendly applications.

Using WReSTT in SE courses: an empirical study

There continues to be a lack of adequate training for students in software testing techniques and tools at most academic institutions. Several educators and researchers have investigated innovative approaches that integrate testing into programming and software engineering (SE) courses with some success. The main problems are getting other educators to adopt their approaches and ensuring students continue to use the techniques they learned in previous courses. In this paper we present a study that evaluates a non-intrusive approach to integrating software testing techniques and tools in SE courses. The study uses a Web-Based Repository of Software Testing Tools (WReSTT) that contains tutorials on software testing concepts and tools. The results of the study show that (1) students who use WReSTT in the classroom can improve their understanding and use of testing techniques and tools, (2) students find WReSTT a useful learning resource, and (3) the collaborative learning environment motivates students to complete assignments.

A DSML for Coordinating User-Centric Communication Services

Rapid advances in electronic communication devices and technologies have resulted in a shift in the way communication applications are being developed. The emerging development strategies provide end-users with a greater ability to manipulate the underlying communication technologies by providing the appropriate level of abstraction, referred to as user-centric communication. In communication-intensive domains such as telemedicine and disaster management, the user-centric communication strategies still lack the ability to coordinate the various communication services in collaborative processes. In this paper, we present a domain-specific modeling language (DSML), Workflow Communication Modeling Language (WF-CML), that supports the rapid realization of collaborative user-centric communication applications. WF-CML is an extension of CML with communication specific abstractions of workflow concepts. To realize WF-CML models, the dynamic synthesis process in the Communication Virtual Machine (CVM) prototype was extended to coordinate the negotiation and media transfer processes based on events generated during the collaboration. We also present a comparative study to show the advantage of using WF-CML over a general-purpose workflow language and execution environment.

PeNTa: Formal Modeling for Multi-touch Systems Using Petri Net

Multi-touch technology has become pervasive in our daily lives, with iPhones, iPads, touch displays, and other devices. It is important to find a user input model that can work for multi-touch gesture recognition and can serve as a building block for modeling other modern input devices e.g., Leap Motion, gyroscope. We present a novel approach to model multi-touch input using Petri Nets. We formally define our method, explain how it works, and the possibility to extend it for other devices.

Context based algorithmic framework for identifying and classifying embedded images of follicle units

Medical image processing has been very emerging research areas in recent days. These types of images are naturally so noisy. To count the target objects is never easy. But the proper treatment depends on the accuracy of the successful locating and counting of the desired objects in an image. Some research work can do this type of segmentation of images, but they include so many constraints on the input images that these solutions cannot be applied in a generalized way to most of the images. Even a slight variation in nature of an input image can lead to a major incorrectness of the result. So we developed a generalized way to count a very noisy part of human body, the hair follicle on the scalp. The objective of this research is to count the number of hair follicle groups and the number of follicles into each group in a microscopic image of human scalp. The follicles are nonstandard in shape i.e. they do not maintain any standard shape like rectangle, oval, circle etc. Moreover the follicles are overlapping with one another in many cases. So it is hard to separate them. Here we will present a technique to count the number of follicle group as well as number of follicles in each group. We also applied well-known techniques to cluster the objects detected and a method to generate a neighboring connected graph in order to calculate the inter follicular distances.

Towards integration of policies into DSMLs

As domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) become more widely used, it is important to develop approaches for creating DSMLs that allows different aspects of the language to be incrementally added. It is important, where possible, that the new aspects (or features) of the DSML be added using an automated or semi-automated approach. By creating such an approach the developers of a DSML can start with the constructs to describe the main functionality in the domain, then add those features to the DSML necessary to specify the non-functional constraints in the domain. In this paper we present a semi-automatic approach to integrate a policy language into an existing DSML. As proof of concept we apply the approach to a simple DSML from the bookstore domain.