2nd Workshop on Assessment of Contemporary Modularization Techniques (ACoM.08) 19th October 2008, Nashville, USA Co-located with: 23rd ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming Systems and Applications (OOPSLA .08) Workshop Web-site: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/ACoM.08/ Motivation ======== With new modularization techniques, such as aspect-oriented programming (AOP) and feature-oriented programming (FOP), starting to reach some level of maturity, their assessment is becoming a central issue to researchers and industrial practitioners. Modern programming languages and modeling techniques (e.g. UML) are consistently being enhanced with additional abstractions, such as aspects and features, and several composition mechanisms, including pointcut-advice, inter-type declarations, and mixin composition. However, it remains unclear to what extent advanced modularization techniques can improve software productivity and maintainability. Emerging modularity mechanisms call for appropriate assessment techniques. It is not clear whether traditional coupling-and-cohesion assessment methods are sufficient to quantify modularity properties fostered by contemporary modularization mechanisms. There is a pressing need to define proper assessment mechanisms, techniques and methods for these new modularization techniques. This workshop emphasizes the need for improving the assessment of modern modularity techniques, thereby contributing to their maturity and evolution. We also aim at understanding their current impact in real industrial settings, fostering their well-informed adoption through effective assessment methods, and boosting the innovation of both new modularization and assessment techniques. We also solicit innovative ideas regarding assessment-based improvement of modularization techniques. Assessing modularization techniques will reveal their benefits and drawbacks, and may reveal the need for advances in programming languages, architecture styles, or the novel combination of existing modularity mechanisms. In particular, empirical studies along with supporting assessment techniques provide the basic means to improve our understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of new software decomposition mechanisms, especially when compared to techniques from other development paradigms. Goals ======== The main goal of this workshop is to put together researchers and practitioners with different backgrounds in order to discuss open issues on the assessment of contemporary modularization techniques, such as: 1. How do new modularization techniques affect working practices and help with software development and evolution? What guidelines can be established from assessment results to improve working practices? 2. What is the impact of using conventional quantitative metrics to assess software modularity? Are they effective enough to assess contemporary modularity techniques? How can we validate assessment mechanisms? 3. To what extent does assessment depend on extensive experience in practice? How can observations of practitioners help in assessment of contemporary modularization techniques? 4. What are the potential paths leading to more effective modularization techniques? 5. How can we compare these modularization techniques, reconcile their seemingly different appearance, and synthesize their applications to design software more effectively? The workshop also aims at: (i) bringing the attention of the software engineering community the importance of rigorous evaluation of emerging modularization techniques; (ii) motivating the expansion of research and practice associated with assessment of emerging modularization technologies; and (iii) fostering a collaborative environment for both practitioners and researchers interested in effective assessment of new development techniques. Topics of Interest ======== The workshop is intended to cover a wide range of topics, from theoretical foundations to assessment frameworks and empirical studies involving contemporary software modularity techniques. Topics of interest include the following (but not limited to): * Lessons learned from assessing new modularization techniques * Empirical studies and industrial experiences * Comparative studies between new modularization techniques and conventional ones * Assessment frameworks * Software metrics and estimation models * Validation of assessment techniques and mechanisms * Assessment techniques, methods and tools to different phases of the software lifecycle * Development of predictive models of defect rates and reliability from real data * Infrastructure issues, such as measurement theory, experimental design, and analysis approaches * Improvement of modularization techniques based on assessment. Workshop Format and Submissions ======== ACoM is a one-day long workshop and is strongly focused on discussion. Authors who plan to contribute with a paper are requested to submit a position paper in PDF format. The paper format must follow the ACM SIGPLAN (10pt) style guidelines. Papers must be written in English and please see the workshop website http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/ACoM.08/ for submission instructions. All accepted papers will be published on the website http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/ACoM.08/ prior to the workshop. We are soliciting the submission of two categories of position papers: 1. Traditional position papers (up to 6 pages) related to workshop topics. 2. Very short position statement (1-2 pages), where the authors describe their "innovative thoughts", lessons learned, or points of view with respect to one or more workshop topics. Papers in the category (1) will be refereed by at least three reviewers, and should describe work that is not yet advanced enough for a full conference paper. They are expected to have a more solid idea, even though it does not require strong validation ingredients. Papers in the category (2) will be mainly reviewed for topicality, i.e. checked if they fit into the workshop topics, including some feedback from reviewers. Moreover we especially encourage authors to present their experience and/or novel ideas on how to assess new modularization techniques (shorter paper format). Important Dates ======== Submission Deadline: 15th August 2008 Notification of Acceptance: 4th September 2008 (1 week before early-registration cut-off) Camera-ready: 26th September 2008 Workshop: 19th October 2008 Programme Committee ======== Mehmet Aksit, University of Twente, The Netherlands Sven Apel, University of Passau, Germany Paulo Borba, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil Yvonne Coady, University of Victoria, Canada Marc Eaddy, Columbia University, USA Eduardo Figueiredo, Lancaster University, UK Rachel Harrison, Stratton Edge Consulting, UK George Heineman, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA James D. Herbsleb, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Arno Jacobsen, University of Toronto, Canada Gregor Kiczales, University of British Columbia, Canada Christa Schwanninger, Siemens AG, Germany Peri Tarr, IBM Watson Research Center, USA Robert Walker, University of Calgary, Canada Organizing Committee ======== Alessandro Garcia, Lancaster University, UK Phil Greenwood, Lancaster University, UK Elisa Baniassad, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Kevin Sullivan, University of Virginia, USA Yuanfang Cai, Drexel University, USA Alan MacCormack, Harvard Business School, USA Eduardo Figueiredo, Lancaster University, UK Workshop Contact ======== Phil Greenwood (greenwop _at_ comp.lancs.ac.uk)