With the rapid advances in high-speed network technologies and steady decrease in the cost of hardware involved, network of workstation (NOW) environments began to attract attention as competitors against special purpose, high performance parallel processing environments. NOWs attract attention as parallel and distributed computing environments because they provide high scalability in terms of computing capacity and they have much smaller cost/performance ratios with high availability. However, they are harder to program for parallel and distributed applications because of the issues involved due to their loosely coupled nature. Some of the issues to be considered are the heterogeneity in the software and hardware architectures, uncontrolled external loads, network overheads, frequently changing system characteristics like workload on processors and network links, and security of applications and hosts. The general objective of this work is to provide the design and implementation of a JavaTM-based, high performance and flexible platform i.e. a framework that will facilitate development of wide range of parallel and distributed applications on networks of heterogeneous workstations (NOW). Parallel and distributed application developers are provided an infrastructure (consisting of pieces of executable software developed in Java and a Java software library) that allows them to build and run their distributed applications on their heterogeneous NOW without worrying about the issues specific to the NOW environments. The results of the extensive set of experiments conducted have shown that Safran is quite scaleable and responds well to compute intensive parallel and distributed applications.

Mobile devices are becoming more common in health care and studies show that they can contribute with a lot of benefits. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what important factors should be considered when designing an application for a tablet computer to be used at an emergency department. The project involved creating a prototype for an application that would be used as a decision support system for doctors when a stroke patient arrives to the emergency department – a case where time and accuracy are both equally important. Research was conducted by doing field studies and interviews, and the results from these helped to develop a prototype. Usability tests were conducted on the prototype and changes were made accordingly. The study showed that there are many important factors to consider; e.g. identifying the workflows, creating a non-linear system and overview support.

The topic of this master's thesis is a comparison of web Rapid Application Development frameworks Ruby on Rails and Spring Roo. The paper focuses on creating extensive overview of pros and cons of the subjected tools from the web developer's point of view to enhance his awareness about the subject, also to come up with new questions for further analysis or even convince him to use one of the frameworks in the real projects. Firstly, the paper contains a theoretical overview of the common conceptions for better understanding of the following parts and then specific principles for each of the selected frameworks. Secondly, there is a practical part. On one hand it demonstrates the implementation of a reference application using both platforms to illustrate the practical distinctions. On the other hand, it also contains an overall comparison based on the defined methodology. Altogether, it should form a comprehensive comparison of the selected frameworks for web developers interested in Ruby and Java platforms.

The design and implementation of business intranet system for Hestego s.r.o. company in attempt to enhance the quality and efficiency of internal communication, business culture and awareness of empolyees is the main focus of this thesis. Current status, limited to use of narrow-profiled information system is described as a part of analysis. Furthermore, commonly used practices in implementing business intranet, together with broadly acknowledged advantages for companies are provided. Based on the gained knowledge, a solution relying on implementing an independent intranet system utilizing database system and .NET web application is proposed. Within the practical section, company’s requirements with regards to functionality and design, conforming with provided logo guidelines are presented. As a final part of this thesis, proposed solution is implemented, documented and deployed in corporate enviroment. Moreover, the advantages of proposed solution for the company are evaluated.

This is a study within the area of computer science and industrial engineering and management, with focus on human computer interaction and management. The focal point for the thesis is work motivation with a digital approach; the possibilities of creating a digital tool that can increase sales employees’ motivation. The motivational effect of the physical Sales Bell, a tool used widely to motivate employees within sales, has been the basis of this project. A qualitative data gathering has been used to determine which functions and features the equivalent digital tool should possess. The collected data has also been the basic for creating personas and scenarios displaying the needs and potential use of the product. The agile design process has involved user-based testing and evaluations in order to develop an optimal design proposal and gain further understanding how the user perceives and interacts with the features and functions. The final prototype is presented together with a detailed specification of both interface design, software requirements and the estimated development cost. Thecase study and testing process has focused on the start-up telecom company Telness. / Det här är en studie inom området datavetenskap och industriell ekonomi, med fokus på människa-dator interaktion. Avhandlingens kärna är hur ett digitalt verktyg kan öka anställdas motivation på arbetsplatsen. Motivationseffekten från den fysiska säljklockan, ett känt motivationsverktyg inom säljverksamhet, har varit studiens utgångspunkt. En kvalitativ datainsamling med säljare som population har använts för att analysera och bestämma vilka funktioner ett motsvarande digitalt verktyg bör ha för att uppnå en motiverande effekt. Datainsamlingen har också fungerat som en bas vid skapandet av personas och scenarios, vilka visar vilka behov och vilken användning produktens framtida användare potentiellt kommer att ha. Den agila designprocessen har bestått av användarcentrerade tester och evalueringar som använts för att utveckla ett optimalt designförslag och få djupare förståelse för hur användare uppfattar och interagerar med prototypens funktioner. Den slutgiltiga prototypen presenteras tillsammans med en detaljerad specifikation innehållande gränssnittets design, krav på mjukvaran samt estimerad kostnad för att utveckla och integrera produkten i en säljverksamhet. För fallstudie och testprocess har start-up telekomföretaget Telness använts.

The growth of the web increased dramatically when users were provided with applications that let them use just their browser to post and edit content on the World Wide Web. Offering users the ability to use their browser to create their own web applications, instead of just posting text and images, would cause another Internet evolution. This thesis describes the EXPPO system (Extensible Page Productions and Operations), a web application development environment for both end-users and technical-users. EXPPO leverages the end-user's previous experience with internet browsers by using a page based development experience or a Page Oriented Architecture. Because applications are structured in this architecture, components used in one application can be re-used by another, providing end-users with functionality that was created by more technical users. This thesis demonstrates how the EXPPO development environment can be used to create functionally rich web applications.

The world of mobile application development faces many challenges today. Software companies want their applications available on both iOS and Android platforms to reach as many users as possible but developing for each native platform separately is time consuming and takes up unnecessary resources. This is the problem that cross-platform development frameworks aim to solve. Today the market is flooded with many cross-platform frameworks to choose from. This has led to a need for companies to identify which cross-platform framework to choose based on a framework’s strengths and weaknesses. Many methods of evaluating cross-platform frameworks have been created, but the challenge of choosing the right one still prevails. This research is aimed to investigate one of these evaluation methods, claiming to be the definitive evaluation framework. This thesis was chosen to be a case study, by cooperating with a company to get insight in the industry’s view on this evaluation framework and learn their opinion of what values are important when evaluating a development framework. The evaluation framework consists of a set of 33 criteria, each aimed at evaluating different parts of a development framework and the resulting applications. In this research, we investigate 8 of these criteria in depth and explore how these could be assigned points in an objective manner. We developed one prototype for each development framework subject to evaluation and gave these points using a system based on the evaluation framework with the added extension of defining our own sub-criteria system for assigning points as objectively as possible. From the collected data during the study we could see, not only, if the company could decide which of the development frameworks in our evaluation was more suitable for their needs. If the evaluation framework performed as intended by the creators and if this was something the company could use further on, for other projects. Results from using the proposed sub-criteria system in the evaluation are also presented and discussed.

Marknaden för mobila applikationer är mycket stor och växer hela tiden. För att kunna konkurrera på en sådan marknad behöver en applikation ha en hög nivå av användbarhet, den behöver vara lättanvänd och ha ett genomtänkt användargränssnitt.  I detta arbete har en mobilvänlig applikation utvecklats från idé till färdig produkt.  Med hjälp av ett för mobila applikationer anpassat utvecklingsramverk och användartester har en produkt med en verifierad hög nivå av användbarhet utvecklats.

When it comes to using agile methods in safety critical application development, there is a limited amount of empirical findings. To learn more about how people in this field perceives the use of working with these methods, it is of interest to take part of their experiences and opinions. The purpose of this thesis is to discover advantages, disadvantages and improvement factors of working with the agile method Scrum in combination with safety critical application development. The study was limited to the roles of developers and verifiers working in two anonymized companies in the defence and railway industry. A qualitative approach was used which included a multiple case study where each of the involved company were considered a case. Empirical data was collected through semi structured interviews with the employees from the two companies. The collected data was categorized, coded and analyzed using comparative analysis. The data was coded based on one of the seven areas documentation, organization, communication, education, development, verification and planning. The interviewed developers and verifiers pointed out various advantages, disadvantages and improvement factors within the areas mentioned above. The majority of the opinions among the interviewees varied. However, some common aspects were pointed out. The most frequently mentioned factor to improve for the developers was in the communication area, while the verifiers raised educational aspects as the most common factor to improve. The findings from this study can be used to point out sections that the investigated companies should consider when using the agile method Scrum in combination with safety critical application development. The thesis also provides empirical evidence of how people in the in-spected companies consider difficulties and opportunities in their work. / När det kommer till användadet av agila metoder vid säkerhetskritisk applikationsutveckling finns det begränsat med empiriska fynd. För att få veta mer om hur personer som arbetar inom detta område uppfattar användandet av dessa metoder, är det av intresse att ta del av deras erfarenheter och åsikter. Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera fördelar, nackdelar och förbättringsmöjligheter när det kommer till att arbeta agilt med Scrum vid säkerhetskritisk applikationsutveckling. Studien inkluderade rollerna utvecklare och verifierare som arbetade i två anonymiserade företag inom försvarsrespektive järnvägsindustrin. En kvalitativ metod användes vilket inkluderade en fallstudie, där de involverade företagen behandlades som varsitt fall. Empirisk data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda från de två företagen. All insamlad data kategoriserades, kodades och analyserade med hjälp av komparativ analys. Kodningen utfördes baserat på de sju olika områdena dokumentation, organisation, kommunikation, utbildning, utveckling, verifikation och planering. De intervjuade utvecklarna och verifierarena pekade ut diverse fördelar, nackdelar och förbättringsfaktorer inom områdena som nämndes ovan. Majoriteten av åsikterna varierade, däremot kunde några gemensamma åsikter påvisas. Den mest förekommande förbättringsfaktorn bland utvecklarna var inom kommunikationsområdet, medan verifierarna tog upp utbildningsrelaterade aspekter som den vanligaste förbättringsfaktorn. Resultaten från denna studie kan användas för att peka ut delar som de undersökta företagen bör beakta vid användning av den agila metoden Scrum i kombination med säkerhetskritisk applikationsutveckling. Uppsatsen tillhandahåller empiriska bevis på hur personer som arbetar på de granskade företagen ser på svårigheter och möjligheterinom sitt arbete.

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