OOPSLA'96 Workshop on object-oriented evolution and re-engineering

OOPSLA'96 Workshop on object-oriented evolution and re-engineering

[Eduardo Casais]

Reminder

		Call for Participation

		OOPSLA'96 Workshop on
Object-Oriented Software Evolution and Re-Engineering

Motivation and Background

Object-oriented programming has often been promoted as 
the most effective approach to build inherently flexible
software. While the benefits of object-oriented technology
are apparent and widely recognized, the utilization of object
oriented technology does not necessarily result in general,
adaptable families of systems. Rather, the indiscriminate use
of object-oriented mechanisms and weaknesses in object-oriented 
analysis and design methods are leading to a new generation of
systems with their own characteristic problems, leaving the
industrial users with the challenging task of managing the
evolution of large, long-lived libraries with little
methodological or tool support.

Advanced users, who pioneered the introduction of object
oriented techniques, are already facing these problems.
Given the pace at which all industrial and commercial sectors
are taking up object-orientation, this issue will become a
central aspect of software development in the near future. 
In a sense, it can be said that legions of C++ programmers
have been diligently at work for the past ten years to develop 
the legacy systems of tomorrow -- with a productivity far
exceeding those of the C, Fortran or Cobol coders of the past.
Therefore, the evolution and re-engineering of object-oriented
software for increased flexibility are strategical considerations 
for companies that rely extensively on object-orientation.

Objectives of the Workshop

The goals of the workshop are to raise the
awareness of the problem and to create a forum for
generating and exchanging ideas for the management
and evolution of large mature object-oriented systems.

The event is a continuation to a workshop on object-oriented
legacy systems held at OOPSLA'95 in Austin, Texas.

Focus

Issues to be covered in the workshop include, but are
not limited to:

o problems with existing object-oriented systems: reusability,
  integration, documentation;
o re-engineering first-generation OO systems into reusable
  frameworks;
o documenting evolving software;
o analyzing systems with respect to flexibility;
o reorganization algorithms and tools;
o environments for evolution and collaborative (re)-design;
o version and configuration management;
o the role of maintenance in the object-oriented software
  development process;
o iterative design;
o the role of componentware and CORBA to re-engineer
  object-oriented software.

Experience reports about the evolution of large
oo systems in production environments, as well as
practical approaches and case studies on re-engineering
such object-oriented systems are particularly welcome.

Agenda

The workshop is a full-day event and will take place on
Monday, the 7th October during OOPSLA'96.

The tentative agenda is as follows:

o introduction;
o invited presentations by selected participants;
o identification of relevant issues for discussion; 
o groupwork on selected topics;
o presentation of results;
o discussion of results: tackling the problem of evolution;
o identifying a research agenda;
o discussion of future concerted actions.

Requirements for Attendance

Selection of participants will be based on short
position papers (4 pages, ASCII, Word attachment,
or uuencoded PostScript) to be sent by the 5th of August. 
Acceptance is notified by the 20th of August.

Organisation

The organizers of the workshop are:

o Eduardo Casais (Nokia)
o Antero Taivalsaari (Nokia)
o Roland Trauter (Daimler-Benz)

For more information about OOPSLA'96, please check the www-site
http://www.acm.org/sigplan/oopsla/oopsla96/oopsla96.html.

Submissions must be sent to:

Eduardo Casais
Nokia Research Center
P.O. Box 45
FIN-00211 Helsinki, Finland	
Email: eduardo.casais@research.nokia.com