Moon Ting Su

Service-Oriented E-Learning System

Instead of building an e-Learning system from scratch, it can be assembled by choosing the required functionalities from a set of web services related to e-Learning. Web services eliminate many interoperability issues between components written and running on different hardware and software platforms. This study aims to construct a set of e-Learning web services. With these web services, new e-Learning system(s) can be constructed by choosing the services which are required. The developed web services include assessment, course management, grading, marking, metadata, registration and reporting web services. These web services are highly in demand as the functionalities for each of the web services are very useful and important in e-Learning systems. In Marking web service, rubrics can be defined to assist in assessment evaluation. In Metadata web service, learning object metadata (LOM) is applied to capture the description of the learning objects.

ENHANCED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EFFORT AND COST ESTIMATION USING FUZZY LOGIC MODEL

The development of software has always been characterized by parameters that possess certain level of fuzziness. This requires that some degree of uncertainty be introduced in the models, in order to make the models realistic. Fuzzy logic fares well in this area. Many of the problems of the existing effort estimation models can be solved by incorporating fuzzy logic. Besides, fuzzy logic had been combined with algorithmic, non-algorithmic effort estimation models as well as a combination of them to deal with the inherent uncertainty issues. This paper also described an enhanced fuzzy logic model for the estimation of software development effort. The model (FLECE) possesses similar capabilities as the previous fuzzy logic model. In addition to that, the enhancements done in FLECE improved the empirical accuracy of the previous model in terms of MMRE (Mean Magnitude of Relative Error) and threshold-oriented prediction measure or prediction quality (pred).

KaitoroBase: Visual Exploration of Software Architecture Documents

This paper describes a software architecture documentation tool (KaitoroBase) built within the Thinkbase Visual Wiki to provide support for non-linear navigation and visualization of Software Architecture Documents (SADs) produced using the Attribute-Driven Design (ADD) method. This involves constructing the meta-model for the SAD in Freebase which provides the foundation for the graph-based interactive visualization enabled by Thinkbase. The resulting tool displays a graphical, high-level structure of SAD, allows for exploratory search, non-linear navigation, and at the same time connects to low-level details of SADs in a wiki.

A Study of Architectural Information Foraging in Software Architecture Documents

When using Software Architecture documents (ADs), users typically “forage” for information. However, it is little understood how they do this foraging or how to structure architecture documentation to assist them. We conducted a survey of two different groups of foragers, industry practitioner and academic AD users, to investigate issues - types of forages, foraging sequences and styles - related to task-based architectural information foraging in software architecture documents. Our results show that there were different pre-conceived ideas of what to forage for prior to the search, but during foraging there was commonly foraged information. The different groups of foragers place different emphasis on information related to quality requirements, purpose of the system, use cases, physical view and process view. Foraging sequences starting with certain information were suggested to better support understanding of the described SA. These sequences typically followed the written order of the information as dictated by the AD producers. This reinforces the critical responsibility of AD producers to structure the architectural information for understanding. Diagrams, views and design decisions were most frequently cited as supporting understanding of the SA. The main hindrance was too much text and a lack of diagrams.

Integrating enterprise application using message-oriented middleware and J2EE technologies

Enterprise systems integration allows applications to be connected to one another in intra- as well as inter-organizational settings. Despite providing tremendous benefits, enterprise-wise integration is complicated. Several integration technologies are available ranging from electronic data interchange, enterprise resource planning, enterprise application integration (EAI) and Web service. This study focuses on enterprise applications integration approach using message-oriented middleware (MOM) and Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technologies. The middleware serves as a bridge between the different applications involved in system integration. Using a common interface layer rather than point-to-point integration enables all the involved applications to communicate freely with each other. Moreover, EAI approach allows the reuse of existing applications besides allowing new applications and data to be incorporated. A prototype of the proposed EAI architecture is implemented in a banking environment scenario.

Issues of Establishing a Campus-wide Computational Grid Infrastructure in the GERANIUM Project

A campus-wide grid and cluster infrastructure using the Rocks clustering software is established. The infrastructure, namely Grid-Enabled Research Network and Info-structure of University of Malaya (GERANIUM), comprises five distinct clusters located at different faculties and institutes. In this paper, the GERANIUM topology and architecture are presented, and issues and experiences concerned are discussed.

Recruitment, engagement and feedback in empirical software engineering studies in industrial contexts

Abstract Context Research carried out in industrial contexts are recognized as important to the advancement of software engineering knowledge and practice. However, several challenges present themselves in the three key phases of research carried out in industrial contexts, recruitment, engagement and feedback. Objective The aim of this paper is to report the challenges related to each of the three phases of research carried out in industrial contexts, and the associated solutions we have found useful from our combined body of industrial empirical software engineering research studies spanning four case studies, five grounded theory studies, seven survey studies and two quasi-experimental studies involving a total of over 400 industrial participants in the past decade. Method We designed an instrument to gather details of our studies carried out in industrial contexts and performed thematic analysis to synthesise and draw out the most prominent challenges faced. Results We present a set of recommendations around study design, conduct and reporting to try and mitigate some of these challenges as they apply specifically to industrial empirical research. Conclusion These recommendations can guide researchers, novice and experienced, working in close collaboration with industry stakeholders to make the most of their industrial software engineering research.