REMINDER: OOPSLA Workshop on OO Software Evolution and Re-Engineering

[Eduardo Casais <eduardo.casais@research.nokia.com>]

Call for Participation

OOPSLA'96 WORKSHOP

OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE EVOLUTION AND RE-ENGINEERING

OVERVIEW

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, including the sudden rush towards Java, this issue is becoming
a central aspect of software development in the near future. In a sense, it can be said that
legions of C++ and Smalltalk, and now Java, programmers have been diligently at work 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.

GOALS

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.

FOCUS

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

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

After selected presentations by participants, groups will be organized to work on different
aspects of the problem. The results will be discussed in plenum; a research agenda will be
identified and future concerted actions will be planned.

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 August 5. Acceptance is notified by
August 20.

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

Submissions:
Eduardo Casais
Nokia Research Center
P.O. Box 45
FIN-00211 Helsinki, Finland	

Telephone: +358 0 4376 6917

Fax: +358 0 4376 6308

Email: eduardo.casais@research.nokia.com