Software Engineering News Briefs - W/E May 5, 1997

Software Engineering News Briefs - W/E May 5, 1997

[SEIC]

Software Engineering News Briefs
Week Ending:  May 2, 1997

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DII COMPUTER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE OPENS 
Topic:  DII
     
The Defense Information Infrastructure (DII) Computer Systems Engineering 
Information Clearinghouse (CSEIC) is now officially open for business.  
Sponsored by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) DII Center for 
Computer Systems Engineering (CFCSE), the DII CSEIC provides effective 
software engineering information and products for the DII technologies 
developed and maintained by the CFCSE.
     
Currently on the DII CSEIC WWW page, 
<http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/CSEIC>, one may browse through 
information about the DII Community, Guidelines, Products & Tools, News & 
Events, and more.  You may contact the DII CSEIC with your comments and 
questions at the following:
     
DII CSEIC
PO Box 1866
Falls Church, VA 22041
DSN: 761-2471; TEL: 800/738-7379 or 703/681-2471 
FAX: 703/681-2869
mailto:dii@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
     
SOURCE:  DII CFCSE

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ADA DRIVES COMMERCIAL REUSE
Topic: Ada, Reuse

Commercial avionics designers historically have seen limited utility for 
reuse.  That all changed when Boeing required Ada in the new 777 
airliner.  Boeing officials acknowledged that using Ada would facilitate 
sound software engineering practices.  The unmitigated success of the 
777, and the extensive use of Ada, has led to the reuse of much of the 79 
different subsystems found in the 777.

Two recent examples of reusing the 777 Ada code can be found in the 
Gulfstream V business jet and the US Army Boeing/Sikorsky RAY-66 Comanche 
helicopter.  Engineers on both projects were able to integrate a library 
of common generic packages written in Ada for the Boeing 777.

SOURCE:  Mayer, John, "Ada, incentives drive commercial reuse," Military 
& Aerospace Electronics, April 1997, v4, n8, p20.

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SWEDISH REAP PAYBACKS IN SOFTWARE REUSE AND ADA
Topic: Ada, Reuse

Software Engineers of CelsiusTech Systems of Jarfalla, Sweden, are 
combining the benefits of reuse and Ada on the Swedish air force 
Stridslednings-central - Combat Control Center (STRIC).  The STRIC 
manages fighter-interceptor control, and contains Ada code in its latest 
rendition.

Developers have reported 80% of the base application framework and the 
man-machine interface could be reused for STRIC from the original Ship 
Systems 2000 system architecture (SS2000).  Officials credit the high 
degree of portability to far-sighted architectural planning and to an 
effort to minimize code revisions.

SOURCE:  Mayer, John, "Swedish reap paybacks in software reuse projects," 
Military & Aerospace Electronics, April 1997, v8, n4, p9.

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REUSE GAINS MOMENTUM
Topic:  Ada, Reuse

Architecture-centric approaches are bringing new credibility to 
software reuse as companies and government agencies grapple with 
reconciling technology and business issues.  First pushed by the DoD's 
Software Reuse Initiative back in 1991, architecture-centric reuse has 
enjoyed technical successes such as the Navy's T-34C instrument 
simulator, the Army's Emitter Location Processing and Analysis (ELPA) 
subsystem, and the Air Force's combined Ada and reuse success, the 
Automated Tracking and Monitoring Systems (ATAMS).

While there are business and proprietary issues that must still be 
resolved, John Mayer reports that DoD-supported technical successes serve 
as a promising sign that institutionalized reuse is finally taking hold.

SOURCE:  Mayer, John, "Reuse gain momentum in software engineering," 
Military & Aerospace Electronics, April 1997, v8, n4, pp17-21.

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NEW SOFTWARE REUSE BOOK ANNOUNCED
Topic: Reuse

In "Software Reuse:  Architecture, Process and Organization for Business 
Success," a new book co-written by Ivar Jacobson, Martin Griss and Patrik 
Jonsson, the authors seek to:

        -introduce the concept of software reuse as a business success enabler; 
        -describe how the right architecture allows applications and components 
         to evolve gracefully;
        -provide guidelines for implementing software engineering processes; 
        -advise on organizational issues such as the structure, transition, 
         day-to-day management, economics and measurement.

Whether you are familiar with the concepts of reuse, component-based 
software engineering, object oriented technology and business engineering 
or not, this new work should prove extremely helpful.

  Pages : 512
  Classification : Object Oriented Programming
  Publication Date : 1997 (est. June)
  ISBN : 0 201 92476 5

SOURCE:  Addison Wesley Longman, http://www.awl-he.com/.

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