Difference between revisions of "Applied Research Notes (July-August 2011)"

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== Peter Liu's Applied Research Proposal (July - August 2011)==
 
== Peter Liu's Applied Research Proposal (July - August 2011)==
The goal of my research activity is to create a '''knowledge base''' at CDOT-Seneca such that new research students can go through a shorter learning curve in working with the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. The knowledge base will also benefit the open source community of developers who want to make contributions to the NexJ code base. UML modelling is the foundation of the NexJ approach to model-driven engineering [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-driven_engineering] and UML diagrams are concept maps [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map ]. Thus the focus of my research is to develop a '''conceptual understanding''' of the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. It is envisioned that some concept maps will be constructed to visualize the architectural aspect of the NexJ code base.
+
The goal of my research activity is to create a '''knowledge base''' at CDOT-Seneca such that new research students can go through a '''shorter learning curve''' in working with the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. The knowledge base will also benefit the open source community of developers who want to make contributions to the NexJ code base. The knowledge base will be a repository of various '''software artifacts''' that have been produced during the process of working with the code base of NexJ Model Server Express.
 +
 
 +
UML modelling is the foundation of the NexJ approach to model-driven engineering [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-driven_engineering] and UML diagrams are concept maps [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map ]. Thus the focus of my research is to develop a '''conceptual understanding''' of the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. It is envisioned that some concept maps will be constructed to '''visualize''' the architectural aspect of the NexJ code base.
 +
 
 +
During the process of creating the knowledge base, I expect to build '''an Eclipse tool''' to mine useful concepts from the NexJ code base. I will begin with the '''Eclipse Diver''' tool as presented by Del Myers at EclipseCon 2011. [http://www.eclipsecon.org/2011/sessions/?page=sessions&id=2099] Later I will try out other open source tools that have been built for reverse engineering and program comprehension.
  
During the process of creating the knowledge base, I would like to build '''an Eclipse tool''' to mine useful concepts from the NexJ code base. I will begin with the '''Eclipse Diver''' tool as presented at EclipseCon 2011.
 
  
 
== Documents Provided by NexJ ==
 
== Documents Provided by NexJ ==
* Introduction To NexJ Studio Express (open sourced, available on Open Health Tools Platform)
+
* Introduction To NexJ Studio Express ('''open sourced''', available on Open Health Tools Platform) [https://projects.openhealthtools.org/sf/projects/oht_aip/]
 
* NexJ Studio Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
 
* NexJ Studio Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
* Working with NexJ Express Source Code (open sourced, available on Open Health Tools Platform)
 
 
* NexJ Studio - Integration Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
 
* NexJ Studio - Integration Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
 +
* Working with NexJ Express Source Code ('''open sourced''', available on Open Health Tools Platform)
 +
* NexJ Systems Developer's Guide (confidential and proprietary)
  
== Current Findings ==
+
== Mining NexJ Concepts From the NexJ Training Tutorial Documents ==
'''Question:''' Where should one start if one wants to get a '''conceptual understanding''' of the code base of NexJ Model Server Express?
+
* '''Question:''' Where should one start if one wants to get a '''conceptual understanding''' of the code base of NexJ Model Server Express?
<br><br>One can download '''Introduction To NexJ Studio Express''' from the Open Health Tools Platform. It's useful for getting familiar with NexJ Studio Express. However, one must read '''NexJ Studio Fundamentals''' and identify the concepts as a result. Presently this document in '''not open sourced'''.
+
** training materials on using NexJ Studio Express
 +
** confirmed by Brian Lim's research experince at CDOT: "the user experience" with NexJ Studio Express
 +
* [[Research Notes - NexJ Training Tutorials | Research Notes]]
  
This document has useful clues for one to understand how the Persistence engine and the Integration engine are organized in the NexJ Framework (at the source code level).
+
== Mining NexJ Concepts From the Practical Experiences of Research Students ==
* In particular, one should understand how '''Class Persistence Mapping''' is done with the NexJ Studio Express.
+
* implementation of a process of '''knowledge transfer'''
* Also one must learn the '''NexJ-Scheme''' language.
+
** discovery of '''tacit knowledge''' in software development [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.9.1147&rep=rep1&type=pdf]
 +
* use of qualitative research technique as adopted in software engineering research [http://www.sbs.co.za/ICSE2010/3-EVENTS/WORKSHOPS/T12.html] [http://www.arnetminer.org/viewpub.do?pid=1072254]
 +
* interview with Brian Lim (JSON Integration Adapter)
 +
** [[Mining NexJ Concepts - Interview Questions for Research Students |intervew questions]]
 +
* interview with Grace Batumbya (JSON RPC Adapter, PostgreSQL Adapter)
 +
* Reference
 +
** An Exploratory Study of How Developers Seek, Relate, and Collect Revevant Informaiton during Software Maintenance Tasks. IEEE Transactions of Software Engineering, 32(12), 2006, pp. 971-987.
  
As for understanding the concepts implemented by the Integration Engine, one must read '''NexJ Studio - Integration Fundamentals'''. Presently this piece of document is '''not open sourced'''.
+
== Conceptual Comprehension of the Code Base ==
 +
* Goal: Understand the '''architecture design''' of NexJ Framework, especially the Persistence Engine and the Integration Engine.
 +
** identification of class dependencies, manually and automatically (use of open soruce tools)
 +
** recovery of design patterns
 +
* Research Question: What '''concepts''' have been implemented in the code base?
 +
* first attempt: use of the Eclipse '''Diver''' tool
 +
* References
 +
** Lethbridge, T. C., & Anquetil, N. (1997). Architecture of Source Code Exploration Tools: A Software Engineering Case Study. University of Ottawa.
 +
=== The Integration Engine ===
 +
* the NexJ Message concept
 +
** [[ NexJ Message Concept - Mapping to the Code Base|Research Notes on the code base]]
 +
* the NexJ Channel concept
 +
* the NexJ Transformation concept
  
== Mining NexJ Concepts From the NexJ Training Tutorial Dcouments ==
+
=== The Persistence Engine ===
  
== Mining NexJ Concepts From the Practical Experience of Research Students ==
+
== Resources ==
* use of qualitative research technique as used in software engineering research
 
* Brian Lim (JSON Integration Adapter)
 
* Grace Batumbya (JSON RPC Adapter, PostgreSQL Adapter)
 
  
== Conceptual Comprehension of the Code Base ==
+
=== Agile Software Engineering ===
* Goal: Understand the '''architecture design''' of NexJ Framework, especially the Persistence Engine and the Integration Engine.
+
*'''Hazzan and Dubinsky: Agile Software Engineering (Springer 2009)''' [http://www.springer.com/computer/swe/book/978-1-84800-198-5]
* Research Question: What '''concepts''' have been implemented in the code base?
+
** a multifaceted approach: the human perspective, the organizational perspective, the technological approach (HOT)
  
== References ==
+
=== Open Source Tools for Reverse Engineering ===
 +
* Put It In Reverse: Using Eclipse to Understand Code that has Already Been Written (EclipseCon 2011) [http://www.eclipsecon.org/2011/sessions/?page=sessions&id=2099]
 +
* Eclipse plugin or a Open source tool to reverse engineer java code for sequence diagram [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2972706/eclipse-plugin-or-a-open-source-tool-to-reverse-engineer-java-code-for-sequence-d]
 +
* FEAT: An Eclipse Plug-in for Locating, Describing, and Analyzing Concerns in Source Code [http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~swevo/feat/]
 +
 
 +
=== Open Source Tools for Modelling Concepts ===
 +
* From XML to Form to Diagram with Sapphire [http://lt-rider.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-xml-to-form-to-diagram-with.html]
 +
** Eclipse Sapphire project [http://www.eclipse.org/sapphire/]
 +
* Free mind mapping software [http://www.informationtamers.com/WikIT/index.php?title=Free_mind_mapping_%28and_related_types%29_software]
 +
=== Reverse Engineering (and Design Recovery)===
 +
* Reverse Engineering: A Roadmap (2000) [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.43.4982&rep=rep1&type=pdf]
 +
* Rerverse Engineering: From Artifacts to Concepts (2005) [http://www.langbein.org/fileadmin/science/revenge/CTRevEnge.pdf]
 +
* Code understanding, reverse engineering, best concepts and tools. Java [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2658133/code-understanding-reverse-engineering-best-concepts-and-tools-java]
 +
* A Comparison of Graphs of Concept for Reverse Engineering [http://www.sdml.info/library/Anquetil%2700.pdf]
 +
* A Unified Meta-Model for Concept-Based Reverse Engineering [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.95.1459&rep=rep1&type=pdf]
 +
* View-Based Reverse Engineering Approach for Enhancing Model Interoperability and Reusability in Process-Driven SOAs [http://www.infosys.tuwien.ac.at/staff/htran/pub/icsr08.pdf]
 +
* Reverse Engineering Domain Models from Source Code [http://www4.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/~ratiu/papers/rem09.pdf ]
  
 
=== Concept Maps and Software Engineering ===
 
=== Concept Maps and Software Engineering ===
Line 43: Line 82:
 
* Representing concerns in source code (2007) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1189748.1189751&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
 
* Representing concerns in source code (2007) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1189748.1189751&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
 
* Architectural Element Matching Using Concept Analysis (1999) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=519308.786904&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330 ]
 
* Architectural Element Matching Using Concept Analysis (1999) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=519308.786904&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330 ]
* Automatic extraction of framework-specific models from framework-based application code 92007) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1321631.1321664&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
+
* Automatic extraction of framework-specific models from framework-based application code (2007) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1321631.1321664&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
* Program representation and behavioural matching for localizing similar code fragments (1993) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=962289.962307&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
+
* Program representation and behavioural matching for localizing similar code fragments (McGill University, 1993) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=962289.962307&coll=DL&dl=ACM&CFID=37509269&CFTOKEN=61359330]
* TOWARDS AUTOMATIC ESTABLISHMENT OF MODEL DEPENDENCIES USING FORMAL CONCEPT ANALYSIS (University of Waterloo) [http://www.swen.uwaterloo.ca/~kostas/publications/journals/j1-05.pdf]
+
** design recovery
*AN ONTOLOGY-BASED PROGRAM COMPREHENSION MODEL (Concordia University 2007) [http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~haarslev/students/Yonggang_Zhang.pdf]
+
* Towards Automatic Establishment Of Model Dependencies Using Formal Concept Analysis (University of Waterloo, 2005) [http://www.swen.uwaterloo.ca/~kostas/publications/journals/j1-05.pdf]
 +
** model-driven software evolution
 +
*An Ontology-Based '''Program Comprehension''' Model (Concordia University, 2007) [http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~haarslev/students/Yonggang_Zhang.pdf]
 +
** knowledge acquisition and the construction of mental models
 +
** '''recovery of design patterns'''
 +
** '''architecture analysis of InfoGlue (an open source CMS)'''
 +
** '''traceability links'''
 +
** '''exploration of inline javadoc comments'''
 +
** use of an Eclipse plugin SOUND
  
=== Reverse Engineering ===
+
=== Concern-Oriented Software Engineering ===
* Reverse Engineering: A Roadmap (2000) [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.43.4982&rep=rep1&type=pdf]
+
* FEAT: An Eclipse Plug-in for Locating, Describing, and Analyzing Concerns in Source Code [http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~swevo/feat/]
* Rerverse Engineering: From Artifacts to Concepts (2005) [http://www.langbein.org/fileadmin/science/revenge/CTRevEnge.pdf]
+
* The Eclipse Mylyn Project [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/]
* Code understanding, reverse engineering, best concepts and tools. Java [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2658133/code-understanding-reverse-engineering-best-concepts-and-tools-java]
+
* An Agenda for Concern-Oriented Software Engineering (2010) [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1882408]
* A Comparison of Graphs of Concept for Reverse Engineering [http://www.sdml.info/library/Anquetil%2700.pdf]
+
* Concern Graphs (University of British Columbia, 2002) [http://www.cs.ubc.ca/labs/spl/projects/concerngraph.html]
* A Unified Meta-Model for Concept-Based Reverse Engineering [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.95.1459&rep=rep1&type=pdf]
+
* Separating Software Engineering Concerns (University of Twente) [http://trese.cs.utwente.nl/taosad/E-Tutorials/SeparatingSE-Concerns-AOSD.pdf]
* View-Based Reverse Engineering Approach for Enhancing Model Interoperability and Reusability in Process-Driven SOAs [http://www.infosys.tuwien.ac.at/staff/htran/pub/icsr08.pdf]
 
* Reverse Engineering Domain Models from Source Code [http://www4.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/~ratiu/papers/rem09.pdf ]
 
 
 
=== Open Source Tools for Reverse Engineering ===
 
* Put It In Reverse: Using Eclipse to Understand Code that has Already Been Written (EclipseCon 2011) [http://www.eclipsecon.org/2011/sessions/?page=sessions&id=2099]
 
* Eclipse plugin or a Open source tool to reverse engineer java code for sequence diagram [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2972706/eclipse-plugin-or-a-open-source-tool-to-reverse-engineer-java-code-for-sequence-d]
 

Latest revision as of 21:47, 26 January 2014

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This page may be obsolete.
It contains historical information.

Peter Liu's Applied Research Proposal (July - August 2011)

The goal of my research activity is to create a knowledge base at CDOT-Seneca such that new research students can go through a shorter learning curve in working with the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. The knowledge base will also benefit the open source community of developers who want to make contributions to the NexJ code base. The knowledge base will be a repository of various software artifacts that have been produced during the process of working with the code base of NexJ Model Server Express.

UML modelling is the foundation of the NexJ approach to model-driven engineering [1] and UML diagrams are concept maps [2]. Thus the focus of my research is to develop a conceptual understanding of the huge code base of NexJ Model Server Express. It is envisioned that some concept maps will be constructed to visualize the architectural aspect of the NexJ code base.

During the process of creating the knowledge base, I expect to build an Eclipse tool to mine useful concepts from the NexJ code base. I will begin with the Eclipse Diver tool as presented by Del Myers at EclipseCon 2011. [3] Later I will try out other open source tools that have been built for reverse engineering and program comprehension.


Documents Provided by NexJ

  • Introduction To NexJ Studio Express (open sourced, available on Open Health Tools Platform) [4]
  • NexJ Studio Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
  • NexJ Studio - Integration Fundamentals (confidential and proprietary)
  • Working with NexJ Express Source Code (open sourced, available on Open Health Tools Platform)
  • NexJ Systems Developer's Guide (confidential and proprietary)

Mining NexJ Concepts From the NexJ Training Tutorial Documents

  • Question: Where should one start if one wants to get a conceptual understanding of the code base of NexJ Model Server Express?
    • training materials on using NexJ Studio Express
    • confirmed by Brian Lim's research experince at CDOT: "the user experience" with NexJ Studio Express
  • Research Notes

Mining NexJ Concepts From the Practical Experiences of Research Students

  • implementation of a process of knowledge transfer
    • discovery of tacit knowledge in software development [5]
  • use of qualitative research technique as adopted in software engineering research [6] [7]
  • interview with Brian Lim (JSON Integration Adapter)
  • interview with Grace Batumbya (JSON RPC Adapter, PostgreSQL Adapter)
  • Reference
    • An Exploratory Study of How Developers Seek, Relate, and Collect Revevant Informaiton during Software Maintenance Tasks. IEEE Transactions of Software Engineering, 32(12), 2006, pp. 971-987.

Conceptual Comprehension of the Code Base

  • Goal: Understand the architecture design of NexJ Framework, especially the Persistence Engine and the Integration Engine.
    • identification of class dependencies, manually and automatically (use of open soruce tools)
    • recovery of design patterns
  • Research Question: What concepts have been implemented in the code base?
  • first attempt: use of the Eclipse Diver tool
  • References
    • Lethbridge, T. C., & Anquetil, N. (1997). Architecture of Source Code Exploration Tools: A Software Engineering Case Study. University of Ottawa.

The Integration Engine

The Persistence Engine

Resources

Agile Software Engineering

  • Hazzan and Dubinsky: Agile Software Engineering (Springer 2009) [8]
    • a multifaceted approach: the human perspective, the organizational perspective, the technological approach (HOT)

Open Source Tools for Reverse Engineering

  • Put It In Reverse: Using Eclipse to Understand Code that has Already Been Written (EclipseCon 2011) [9]
  • Eclipse plugin or a Open source tool to reverse engineer java code for sequence diagram [10]
  • FEAT: An Eclipse Plug-in for Locating, Describing, and Analyzing Concerns in Source Code [11]

Open Source Tools for Modelling Concepts

  • From XML to Form to Diagram with Sapphire [12]
    • Eclipse Sapphire project [13]
  • Free mind mapping software [14]

Reverse Engineering (and Design Recovery)

  • Reverse Engineering: A Roadmap (2000) [15]
  • Rerverse Engineering: From Artifacts to Concepts (2005) [16]
  • Code understanding, reverse engineering, best concepts and tools. Java [17]
  • A Comparison of Graphs of Concept for Reverse Engineering [18]
  • A Unified Meta-Model for Concept-Based Reverse Engineering [19]
  • View-Based Reverse Engineering Approach for Enhancing Model Interoperability and Reusability in Process-Driven SOAs [20]
  • Reverse Engineering Domain Models from Source Code [21]

Concept Maps and Software Engineering

  • Concept Map Based Software Engineering (2007) [22] [23]
  • Research on the Application of the Concept Map to Software Engineering Teaching (2009) [24]
  • Using Concept Mapping to Facilitate Students Understanding Software Testing [25]
  • Are concept-mapping tools useful for software analysis and design? [26]
  • Mind Mapping and the Software Development Life Cycle (2006) [27]
  • Using concept mapping for maintainability assessments (2009) [28]
  • The concept maps method as a tool to evaluate the usability of APIs (2011) [29]
  • Representing concerns in source code (2007) [30]
  • Architectural Element Matching Using Concept Analysis (1999) [31]
  • Automatic extraction of framework-specific models from framework-based application code (2007) [32]
  • Program representation and behavioural matching for localizing similar code fragments (McGill University, 1993) [33]
    • design recovery
  • Towards Automatic Establishment Of Model Dependencies Using Formal Concept Analysis (University of Waterloo, 2005) [34]
    • model-driven software evolution
  • An Ontology-Based Program Comprehension Model (Concordia University, 2007) [35]
    • knowledge acquisition and the construction of mental models
    • recovery of design patterns
    • architecture analysis of InfoGlue (an open source CMS)
    • traceability links
    • exploration of inline javadoc comments
    • use of an Eclipse plugin SOUND

Concern-Oriented Software Engineering

  • FEAT: An Eclipse Plug-in for Locating, Describing, and Analyzing Concerns in Source Code [36]
  • The Eclipse Mylyn Project [37]
  • An Agenda for Concern-Oriented Software Engineering (2010) [38]
  • Concern Graphs (University of British Columbia, 2002) [39]
  • Separating Software Engineering Concerns (University of Twente) [40]