REMINDER: OOPSLA Workshop on OO software evolution and re-engineering

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

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Eduardo Casais

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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,
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++, 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