Novel interaction metaphors for object-oriented programming concepts

Background. Programming is widely known to be a cognitively demanding field. Learning programming can be a strenuous task without the proper guidance and methodology. Students often face difficulties in understanding even the most basic and fundamental concepts of programming, leading to their confusion and disappointment. Serious games for programming have the potential to alleviate students’ difficulties with programming. Aim. This article introduces a new serious game named jAVANT-GARDE which aims to educate the player on the basic concepts of programming and object-oriented programming through Java. By design, the game is suitable for everyone, even for players with no previous knowledge of programming. This article aims to present important information regarding the design, implementation and pilot evaluation of jAVANT-GARDE. Method. The game was evaluated by 42 high school students (age 16-17) in terms of perceived player experience and short-term learning. The participants played the game for one hour in the school lab and then answered a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ framework. Results. Students evaluated positively the game in terms of its usability, confidence in playing the game, challenge, satisfaction, fun, focused attention and relevance. Moreover, the majority of students stated that would prefer learning programming with this game to learning through other teaching methods. Conclusions. The results of the pilot study and students’ replies in the questionnaire are rather positive. This gives us the initiative to proceed with studying the effect of the game in long-term learning of programming concepts.

This chapter presents a review of the literature on learning programming through virtual reality (VR) and introduces an empirical study of our VR-based escape room platform designed for this purpose. The platform comprises two modules. The first module introduces learners to fundamental object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts through an engaging escape room experience. The storyline involves creatures trapped in a spaceship, and users must solve programming puzzles to unlock spaceship doors and progress through the levels. The second module focuses on more advanced programming concepts, such as conditional statements and loops. Similar to the first module, this module is structured as an escape room, with a storyline about a person trapped in a house who must solve programming puzzles to escape. The primary objective of this study was to examine whether the VR-based gamified escape room enhances students’ perceptions of their learning performance and motivation in learning fundamental and OOP concepts. Additionally, we sought to determine if there is a difference in engagement levels between the VR version and the computer display version of the escape room platform. To evaluate students’ perceptions of learning performance and motivation, we conducted pre-test and post-test surveys using a Likert scale, supplemented by interviews at the conclusion of the study. The findings indicate an improvement in participants’ learning performance and underscore the benefits of learning programming through the VR-based escape room, aligning with the trends and insights reported in existing literature.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm in which programs are organized as cooperative collections of object. Learning the object-oriented approach is however difficult for novice students, mostly because the concepts of object, class and inheritance are abstract in nature. The main objective of this article is to present the design and validation of a learning environment for learning the concepts of object-oriented programming. The learning environment is based on Polya's heuristic method for solving problems. The validation process was performed using a pretest and post-test applied to two groups: control and experimental. The results given in the validation demonstrate evidence that experimental group recorded a higher level of consolidation of the concepts of object-oriented programming.

In the past, programming language are procedural, the design concept is based on the module and scope which are difficult to manage, but nowadays, the programming trend is Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), where objects are the key elements to build up application and the communications between different objects are through method invocation. A novel object-oriented processor offers an opportunity to enhance the system security, performance and provides a more effective way to manipulate OOP instead of using a software Virtual Machine. jHISC is a novel object-oriented processor which provides a natural way to map the concept of OOP into architectural level through the hardware object data structure. Our solution is to design secure hardware object data structures on a novel processor with Just-In-Time compilation for Java which then makes it possible to implement complex OO related bytecodes at hardware level and access some fields of object in parallel to improve the execution speed. It mainly targets J2ME and implements about 93% bytecodes and 83% OO related bytecodes in hardware directly.

The notations of class, subclass and virtual procedure are fairly well understood and recognized as some of the key concepts in object-oriented programming. The possibility of modifying a virtual procedure in a subclass is a powerful technique for specializing the general properties of the superclass.<p>In most object-oriented languages, the attributes of an object may be references to objects and (virtual) procedures. In Simula and BETA it is also possible to have class attributes. The power of class attributes has not yet been widely recognized. In BETA a class may also have <em>virtual class attributes</em>. This makes it possible to defer part of the specification of a class attribute to a subclass. In this sense virtual classes are analogous to virtual procedures. Virtual classes are mainly interesting within strongly typed languages where they provide a mechanism for defining general parameterized classes such as set, vector and list. In this sense they provide an alternative to generics. Although the notion of virtual class originates from BETA, it is presented as a general language mechanism.</p>

A description is given of some difficulties that one encounters in the testing and maintenance of C++ programs, which may result in program unreliability. Inheritance and polymorphism are key concepts in object-oriented programming (OOP), and are essential for achieving reusability and extendibility, but they also make programs more difficult to understand. The authors show by arguments and by some empirical evidence that widely used complexity metrics like lines of code, cyclomatic complexity, and Software Science's metrics may not be appropriate to measure the complexity of C++ programs and those written in other object-oriented languages, since they do not address concepts like inheritance and encapsulation, apart from having other weaknesses. Some measures using a notion from the world of functional decomposition-coupling, are defined for C++ programs. Two of them-CC and AMC-and equivalent ones for the three widely used complexity metrics (for comparison) are computed for five C++ programs. Preliminary results show that the coupling measures correlate better with difficulty of testing and maintenance than the three widely used complexity metrics. >

Research has been undertaken to answer the following question: Can icon-based programming languages be used to teach first year programming concepts to undergraduate students more effectively than text-based languages? BACCII++ is an iconic environment developed at Texas Tech University for teaching procedural and object-oriented programming concepts and languages. Course materials were developed and used under experimental conditions during the 1995-96 school year at Texas Tech University, with half using BACCII++ to generate C++ code, and the other half using only C++. For each course in each semester the experiment was run, the sections using BACCII++ did significantly better in overall performance.

Events and Sightings David Walden (bio) and Dag Spicer (bio) Fifty-Year Anniversaries in Norwegian Computing History Two fifty-year anniversaries in computing history were celebrated in Oslo in September 2017: the fifty-year anniversary of the creation of the Simula programming language, and the fifty-year anniversary of the founding of the Norsk Data computer company. Simula The Simula 67 programming language, first formally defined in 1967, was a step in a series of developments by Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nygaard that began in the early 1960s.1 Dahl and Nygaard were given the 2001 IEEE John von Neumann Medal and the ACM 2001 A.M. Turing Award for their creation of Simula. A fifty-year anniversary celebration for Simula took place (in the “Simula Auditorium” in the “Ole-Johan Dahl Building”) at the University of Oslo on 27 September 2017. The celebration began with unveiling of a plaque from the IEEE History Committee’s Milestone program. The plaque reads: IEEE Milestone Object-oriented Programming, 1961–1967 Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nygaard created the Simula programming languages in the 1960s at the Norwegian Computer Center, and in so doing introduced a new way of modeling and simulating complex tasks. Object-oriented programming is now dominant in systems development. It is an integral part of computer science curricula, as are languages built on object-oriented programming concepts, such as Smalltalk, C++, Java, and Python. September 2017 The nomination of this Milestone was from the IEEE Norway Section. The photo shows Section Vice-Chairman Kaveh Niayesh unveiling the plaque. The rest of the day consisted of presentations by several programming language researchers and developers: Oscar Nierstrasz (“Great Moments in the History of OOP”), Dave Thomas (“The Legacy of Simula 67”), and James Gosling (“Simula: A Personal Journey”), as well as a panel discussion chaired by Eric Jul (“Whither Programming Languages? Can We Still Celebrate Simula 50 Years from Now?”) with participation of the prior three speakers and Ole Lehrmann Madsen and Olaf Owe.2 Videos from the event are available.3 The previous afternoon, the Association of Simula Users (ASU) held a several-hour meeting at which there were six presentations and a wrap-up session. According to Boris Magnusson (ASU chairman 1982–83), the ASU has been in continuous existence since the early days of Simula 67, holding annual conferences and publishing a quarterly newsletter. However, in recent years the ASU activities “have slowly faded away, and the meeting in Oslo was intended as a last meeting and also a way to formally close down the Association.” Click for larger view View full resolution Photo 1. Photo credit: Harald Brombach/digi.no. Norsk Data On 16–17 September 2017, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Norsk Data was marked. In 1967 Lars Monrad-Krohn, Per Bjørge, and Rolf Skår left the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE), where they had worked on the computer developments in “Siffergruppen” (the Digital Group), initiated and [End Page 93] led by Yngvar Lundh. They founded Norsk Data Elektronikk, where their first computer development was the Nord-1, building on work they had done in the Digital Group. Click for larger view View full resolution Photo 2. Veslemøy Østrem of Aftenposten interviewing Norsk Data founders Rolf Skår and Lars Monrad-Krohn. Photo credit: Ragnar Sturzel. The Nord-1was a minicomputer and competed well in Europe with minicomputers from the United States. With additional computers being developed over the years (arguably better hardware and software than some US competitors) and many high-profile or operation-critical installations, Norsk Data eventually became a high-flying company listed on the London as well as the NASDAQ stock exchanges, in addition to on the Norwegian exchange. With the personal computer revolution, Norsk Data went the way of almost all minicomputer manufacturers, eventually going out of business. For many of the eventual 4,500 employees of Norsk Data, their time with a company was one of the most exciting times of their professional careers, and the one-time employees of Norsk Data went on to populate a significant part of the developing Norwegian computing industry. The day of 18 September involved a five-hour...

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that emphasizes the use of objects and classes to build modular and maintainable software. One of the fundamental concepts in OOP is polymorphism, which is the ability of objects from different classes to respond to the same method in different ways. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the polymorphism concept in directing software design in terms of code structure, development utility, and maintenance efficiency. The research method used is a literature study and program code simulation using a procedural approach compared to an object-oriented approach that applies runtime polymorphism. The results of the analysis show that the use of polymorphism can significantly reduce the number of lines of code, logical structure traffic, and facilitate feature expansion without the need to change existing code. Thus, polymorphism has proven effective in improving readability, reusability, and scalability of software design.

The increasing use of subcontractors by OEMs (or Original Equipment Manufacturers) for Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly has forced the industry to rethink its supply chain strategy. Supply chain management is seen as the newest opportunity for the industry to cope with the needs of mass customization and shorter response times. An effective supply chain management strategy improves responsiveness, reduces working capital requirements, reduces inventory, provides opportunities for forming strategic partnerships, and thus improves the competitiveness of the organization. This paper describes the results of a ‘supply chain mapping effort’ performed at an EMS provider's facility, with a specific focus on the procurement process. A distributed intelligent agent-based system, ‘SUNY-IntelliPro’, was designed based on the results of this effort. This system is capable of sending a Request For Quote (RFQ) to the suppliers mentioned in the Accepted (or Approved) Vendor Lists (AVLs), analyzing the responses to the RFQs, and selecting a potential supplier to place a purchase order. An intelligent agent in the system would then estimate the total cost of the assembly, and inform the customer. Another agent in the system would then place orders for the different components, upon the customer's approval of the quote. The system described in this paper would use concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), mobile agents, and object-oriented programming. The design of the agent system and the role of the different intelligent agents have been explained.

Currently available programming and database systems are insufficient for engineering applications. The authors contend that a logical progression from a formal conceptual model of the engineering domain to a computational model will lead to new programming paradigms capable of directly supporting engineering applications in a rigorous, concise manner. A formal domain model devised by the authors, theHybrid Model (HM) of design information, is briefly introduced. It is an extension of axiomatic set theory and is discussed in detail elsewhere. HM forms the basis ofDesigner, a prototype-based object-oriented programming language supporting a signature-based canonical message-passing mechanism and multiple inheritance. Designer is implemented using the Scheme programming language. Because Designer satisfies a formal conceptual model, and because it is based on a formally specified language, its robustness and logical validity are superior to those of other languages not founded on formal principles. Designer combines concepts of functional and object-oriented programming to provide the formal rigor and flexibility to capture the complex and strongly interrelated information that designers use. Examples demonstrate how Designer represents design information. The results of the authors' research indicate that Designer can capture design information (including aspects of functional requirements and design intent) effectively and efficiently.

No abstract available.

Chapter 6 - Structured Search on Database Landscape

Reinforced concrete slabs supported on columns fail by punching when a conical plug of concrete perforates the slab above the column. This failure has been mostly investigated experimentally, so what can numerical simulation contribute to understand this phenomenon? To answer this question, a computational simulation tool based on the finite element method is developed. This numerical model is implemented into a computer code in applying the object-oriented programming concept. The requirements that the numerical model should fulfill are derived from a review of the experimental results published in the literature and obtained in our laboratory. The numerical model reproduces the non-linear material behavior characterizing reinforced concrete structures by decoupling the actions of steel reinforcement and concrete. The steel reinforcement is represented by uniaxial truss elements which follow a bi-linear stress-strain response. The concrete is modeled with continuum elements which are described at the constitutive level within the framework of the incremental flow theory of plasticity. The concrete triaxial strength is delimitated with a new failure criterion. A plastic flow rule is derived so as to reproduce the evolution of the plastic strain observed experimentally. Cracking induces strain-softening which refers to a gradual decrease in tensile strength with increasing deformations. The reduction of the tensile strength is controlled by an isotropic decohesion process which is monitored by constant fracture energy. The stiffness degradation due to cracking is reproduced with an isotropic elastic damage model. A perfect bond between concrete and steel is assumed. The capabilities of the numerical model are illustrated by simulating the localized shear failure in soil under a footing, the uniaxial tensile, and the confined compressive tests in plain and reinforced concrete specimens. The simulation of punching failure is investigated for three circular reinforced concrete slabs. The comparison with experimental results indicates that: (1) the punching failure mechanism –characterized by a localized inclined punching crack– is generated, (2) the value of the punching load is predicted, (3) the cracking sequence is reproduced, (4) the global response is slightly too stiff. For slabs with orthogonal reinforcement, the perfect bond hypothesis does not allow to capture the punching failure mechanism and the numerical model is improved by relaxing this hypothesis. The developed computational simulation tool reproduces the punching failure observed experimentally and is consequently used to investigate the failure mechanism. First, it is shown that the punching crack results from a crack coalescence phenomenon at the top of the slab followed by a crack propagation in the direction of the corner slab-column. Second, a condition for punching failure to occur is determined. Third, it is illustrated that the size-effect observed experimentally is reproduced and is reflected by a modification of the tensile stress distribution along the punching crack. Finally, a parametric study of the punching failure is performed revealing that punching failure is governed by the tensile strength of concrete. It is also shown that increasing the percentage of reinforcement raises the punching load and reduces the ductility of failure. Lastly, the computational simulation tool allows to demonstrate that in a circular slab, the applied bending moment is not determinant for the value of the punching load.

This paper describes practical problems encountered in modelling and simulating complex system interactions in a manufacturing enterprise. In addition to production, the interactions of diverse activities such as sales forecasting, order processing, production planning, material requirements planning, material procurement and distribution are considered. The preliminary results of such modelling and simulation are described. A graphical model of the order-to-ship (OTS) process, which consists of the activities that occur between the receipt of orders and the shipment of products within a factory, was built using hierarchical process modelling (HPM), derived from IDEF-0. Simulation model components for the OTS process were built using object-oriented programming and discrete-event simulation concepts. These reusable components were implemented in the class structure of the common Lisp object system (CLOS) within a manufacturing enterprise simulator (MES), on which different manufacturing enterpris...