The Role of Abstraction in Software Engineering

Sunday, May 11, 2008, Leipzig, Germany
In conjunction with the 30th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

 

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS

Orit Hazzan, Technion - IIT       Jeff Kramer, Imperial College

 

 

 

MOTIVATION
Why is it that some software engineers are able to produce clear, elegant designs and programs, while others cannot? One hypothesis is that the answer lies in abstraction: the ability to perform abstract thinking and to exhibit abstraction skills.

Abstraction is a cognitive means by which engineers, mathematicians and other deal with complexity. It covers both aspects of removing detail as well as the identification of generalisations or common features, and has been recognized as a crucial skill for software engineering professionals. There are many explanations for the importance of the notion of abstraction. Among others, the intangibility of software systems, the need to cope with complexity, and the ability to examine many topics in software engineering at different levels of detail and abstraction according to the purpose, are presented as strong justification for the central role of abstraction.  

The one-day workshop consists of theory- and practice-based presentations, group work and discussions. As the workshop title indicates, the workshop addresses organizational, managerial and cognitive perspectives at abstraction.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
The objective is to come to a better understanding of the nature and role of abstraction. Specifically,
- Experience sharing with respect to case studies in which abstraction plays a central role;
- Examination of different software engineering topics from the perspective of abstraction;
- Exploration of how abstraction may foster organizational processes;
- Evaluation of different ways to teach abstraction in software organizations and in academia.

FOR ICSE 2006 ROA WORKSHOP LOOK AT:
http://edu.technion.ac.il/Courses/cs_methods/AbstractionWorkshop/ICSE_AbstractionWorkshop.htm
and
Kramer, J. and Hazzan, O. (2006). Summary of an ICSE 2006 Workshop: The Role of Abstraction in Software Engineering, ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes 31(6), pp. 38-39.

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE  
Daniel M. Berry, University of Waterloo, Canada

Shing Chi Cheung, HKST, Hong Kong, China

Yael Dubinsky, Technion, Israel

Carlo Ghezzi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Leah Goldin, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel

Frank Maurer, University of Calgary, CA

Tetsuo Tamai, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Sebastian Uchitel, Imperial College London, UK

Axel van Lamsweerde, Universit Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

 

 

SUBMISSIONS AND PARTICIPATION
We encourage authors to submit a paper discussing experience or research in all topics related to abstraction in the context of software engineering.

Papers submitted to the workshop should contain original contributions that address the workshop's topics of interest.
Each paper will be reviewed by at least three program members.
Papers' length is limited to 8 pages.

Papers have to adhere strictly to the ICSE 2008 submission guidelines.

Workshop papers will be published in the ACM and IEEE Digital Libraries.

 

IMPORTANT DATES
January 24, 2008: Deadline for submission
February 14, 2008: Notification of acceptance
February 21, 2008: Camera ready copy
May 11, 2008: Workshop

SEND SUBMISSIONS TO
Orit Hazzan <oritha@techunix.technion.ac.il>