The problems associated with software development and use are investigated from a management point of view. Having identified the critical aspects of effective software management, an approach is suggested for the creation and implementation of a software quality assurance program, Particular attention is focused on the concept of Life Cycle Procurement as currently utilized by the Department of Defense. The research was accomplished in two phases. The first consisted of an extensive literature search, seminar attendance and participation in several working groups assigned the responsibility for establishing software quality assurance guidelines. The second phase involved direct participation in the development of a formal software quality assurance program. The report is written in a manner designed to guide a non-technically oriented manager through a complete analysis of software, its measures of quality, its problem sources and the most promising techniques which can he used to control and evaluate its development.

The underlying goal of SUPERvisory Methodology And Notation (SUPERMAN) is to enhance productive operation of human-computer system developers by providing easy-to-use concepts and automated tools for developing high-quality (e.g., human-engineered, cost-effective, easy-to-maintain) target systems. The supervisory concept of the methodology integrates functions of many modeling techniques, and allows complete representation of the designer's conceptualization of a system's operation. The methodology views humans as functional elements of a system in addition to computer elements. Parts of software which implement human-computer interaction are separated from the rest of software. A single, unified system representation is used throughout a system lifecycle. The concepts of the methodology are notationally built into a graphical programming language. The use of this language in developing a system leads to a natural and orderly application of the methodology. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

In this thesis, a PROCESSOR and a POSTPROCESSOR are developed for a plane frame analysis computer program on the IBM PC. The PROCESSOR reads the data prepared by a PREPROCESSOR and solves for the unknown joint displacement using the matrix displacement method. The POSTPROCESSOR uses the results of the PROCESSOR to obtain the required responses of the structure. A chapter on testing procedures is also provided. / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Probabilistic symbolic execution is a new approach that extends the normal symbolic execution with probability calculations. This approach combines symbolic execution and model counting to estimate the number of input values that would satisfy a given path condition, and thus is able to calculate the execution probability of a path. The focus has been on programs that manipulate primitive types such as linear integer arithmetic in object-oriented programming languages such as Java. In this thesis, we extend probabilistic symbolic execution to handle data structures, thus allowing support for reference types. Two techniques are proposed to calculate the probability of an execution when the programs have structures as inputs: an approximate approach that assumes probabilities for certain choices stay fixed during the execution and an accurate technique based on counting valid structures. We evaluate these approaches on an example of a Binary Search Tree and compare it to the classic approach which only take symbolic values as input. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Probabilistiese simboliese uitvoering is ’n nuwe benadering wat die normale simboliese uitvoering uitbrei deur waarksynlikheidsberekeninge by te voeg. Hierdie benadering kombineer simboliese uitvoering en modeltellings om die aantal invoerwaardes wat ’n gegewe padvoorwaarde sal bevredig, te beraam en is dus in staat om die uitvoeringswaarskynlikheid van ’n pad te bereken. Tot dus vêr was die fokus op programme wat primitiewe datatipes manipuleer, byvoorbeeld lineêre heelgetalrekenkunde in objek-geörienteerde tale soos Java. In hierdie tesis brei ons probabilistiese simboliese uitvoering uit om datastrukture, en dus verwysingstipes, te dek. Twee tegnieke word voorgestel om die uitvoeringswaarskynlikheid van ’n program met datastrukture as invoer te bereken. Eerstens is daar die benaderingstegniek wat aanneem dat waarskynlikhede vir sekere keuses onveranderd sal bly tydens die uitvoering van die program. Tweedens is daar die akkurate tegniek wat gebaseer is op die telling van geldige datastrukture. Ons evalueer hierdie benaderings op ’n voorbeeld van ’n binêre soekboom en vergelyk dit met die klassieke tegniek wat slegs simboliese waardes as invoer neem.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Computer-aided verification techniques, such as model checking, are often considered essential to produce highly reliable software systems. Modern model checkers generally require models to be written in eSP-like notations. Unfortunately, such systems are usually implemented using conventional imperative programming languages. Translating the one paradigm into the other is a difficult and error prone process. If one were to program in a process-oriented language from the outset, the chasm between implementation and model could be bridged more readily. This would lead to more accurate models and ultimately more reliable software. This thesis covers the definition of a process-oriented language targeted specifically towards embedded systems and the implementation of a suitable compiler and run-time system. The language, LF, is for the most part an extension of the language Joyce, which was defined by Brinch Hansen. Both LF and Joyce have features which I believe make them easier to use than other esp based languages such as occam. An example of this is a selective communication primitive which allows for both input and output guards which is not supported in occam. The efficiency of the implementation is important. The language was therefore designed to be expressive, but constructs which are expensive to implement were avoided. Security, however, was the overriding consideration in the design of the language and runtime system. The compiler produces native code. Most other esp derived languages are either interpreted or execute as tasks on host operating systems. Arguably this is because most implementations of esp and derivations thereof are for academic purposes only. LF is intended to be an implementation language. The performance of the implementation is evaluated in terms of practical metries such as the time needed to complete communication operations and the average time needed to service an interrupt. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Rekenaar ondersteunde verifikasietegnieke soos programmodellering, is onontbeerlik in die ontwikkeling van hoogs betroubare programmatuur. In die algemeen, aanvaar programme wat modelle toets eSP-agtige notasie as toevoer. Die meeste programme word egter in meer konvensionele imperatiewe programmeertale ontwikkel. Die vertaling vanuit die een paradigma na die ander is 'n moelike proses, wat baie ruimte laat vir foute. Indien daar uit die staanspoor in 'n proses gebaseerde taal geprogrammeer word, sou die verwydering tussen model en program makliker oorbrug kon word. Dit lei tot akkurater modelle en uiteindelik tot betroubaarder programmatuur. Die tesis ondersoek die definisie van 'n proses gebaseerde taal, wat gemik is op ingebedde programmatuur. Verder word die implementasie van 'n toepaslike vertaler en looptyd omgewing ook bespreek. Die taal, LF, is grotendeels gebaseer op Joyce, wat deur Brinch Hansen ontwikkel is. Joyce en op sy beurt LF, is verbeterings op ander esp verwante tale soos occam. 'n Voorbeeld hiervan is 'n selektiewe kommunikasieprimitief wat die gebruik van beide toevoer- en afvoerwagte ondersteun. Omdat 'n effektiewe implementasie nagestreef word, is die taalontwerp om so nadruklik moontlik te wees, sonder om strukture in te sluit wat oneffektief is om te implementeer. Sekuriteit was egter die oorheersende oorweging in die ontwerp van die taal en looptyd omgewing. Die vertaler lewer masjienkode, terwyl die meeste ander implementasies van eSP-agtige tale geinterpreteer word of ondersteun word as prosesse op 'n geskikte bedryfstelsel- die meeste eSP-agtige tale word slegs vir akademiese doeleindes aangewend. LF is by uitstek ontwerp as implementasie taal. Die evaluasie van die stelsel se werkverrigting is gedoen aan die hand van praktiese maatstawwe soos die tyd wat benodig word vir kommunikasie, sowel as die gemiddelde tyd benodig vir die hantering van onderbrekings.

No description available.

The thesis describes a Universal meta cross assembler and an emulator for the Intel 8086 microprocessor. The utility is designed to be used as an instructional tool to teach assembly language programming to students. One implementation is available to allow students to run Intel 8086 programs on the university's vax mainframe, so that students can test their programs at their convenience. This setup also results in low operating costs with no additional equipment requirements. Several options are provided in the emulator to debug the 8086 assembly language programs composed by students. The assembler, besides generating Intel 8086 machine code, has the capability to generate machine code for a number of microprocessors or microcontrollers. The machine code file generated by the assembler is the input to the emulator. Both the assembler and the emulator are completely portable and can be recompiled to run on any system with a standard C compiler.

This study provides a rationale for advising students on whether to enroll in individualized/self-paced computer courses. It identifies seven factors that have a significant correlation with success in an individualized computer course. The sample comprises all the students enrolled in individualized computer courses at Lee College, Baytown, Texas in the spring semester of 1988. Students completed a survey to determine whether they had previous computer experiences, whether they operated with a level of introvert personality characteristics, and whether the individualized computer course was their first choice. Students completed a learning style inventory and a score was determined using the items relating to individualized computer studies. Data collected in the Lee College records office included high school percentile rank, standardized reading score, standardized mathematics score, college hours completed, course withdrawals, and age. The following seven factors were shown by the data to have a significant correlation with a final grade (in order of decreasing significance): (a) learning style inventory, (b) high school percentile, (c) standardized mathematics score, (d) standardized reading score, (e) previous computer experience, (f) number of college hours, and (g) age. The following three factors were shown by the data to have no significant correlation with a final grade: (a) course withdrawals, (b) degree of personality introversion, and (c) the individualized computer course as first choice. The findings substantiate the hypothesis that success in an individualized computer course might be attributed to certain factors, and once identified, these factors can be used in advising students. Advisors should use as many of the seven factors (identified as significant), as possible in helping students choose between individualized and traditional computer courses.