School of Information Technology

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Polelo 2005
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The Polelo Group

• Prof Judith Bishop
• and students
• August 2005

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Our vision - Communication

• Between computers and computers
• Between computers and people
• With each other and our colleagues
• With overseas and industrial collaborators

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Success to date - Science

• Java web skeleton
• spin-off company and for the International AIDS
  Conference in 2002 (with TU-Berlin and
  E-Volution)
• Views system
• first Microsoft competitive RFP grant 2002
• began research in GUIs, XML extension,
  reflection, and interoperability
• RoSCtor
• Software construction in Rotor, emphasising new
  programming techniques such as aspect-oriented
  development (Microsoft)
• SLI_at_UP
• industry-related research in service-based
  architectures, and product line practice
  (Microsoft, Jay van Zyl SystemLogic and Dirk
  Muthig, Fraunhofer Kaiserslautern)
• Linca
• Cryptographic skeleton for mobile phones

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Success - Service

• Java Gently and C Concisely
• support for readers worldwide exercises,
  answers, quizzes and websites, also new language
  investigation e.g. Spec (Microsoft)
• Component Deployment 2002, 2004, 2005
• Initiated and assisted with these conferences
• Reviewing for 7 major conferences annually
• ACM Software System Award
• nominated James Gosling for Java
• now chairman of the award (2005-2006)
• Scholarships
• DAAD - Judith Bishop to TU Berlin 2003
• University - Kathrin Berg to FH Kaiserslautern
  2005
• Scarce Skills - Basil Worrall 2004-2005
• Humboldt - Kurt Geihs, from U Kassel 2006

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Current collaborative projects

• Algon
• a framework for distributed algorithm interchange
  (Karen Renaud, Univ. Glasgow)
• Views 2.0
• an XML-based GUI engine for platform
  interoperability (Nigel Horspool, Univ.
  Victoria and Microsoft Research)
• Cosmos
• the composition and monitoring of services in
  unstable and evolving contexts (Carlo Ghezzi,
  Politecnico di Milano)
• Nomad
• a distributed information sharing system for
  casually connected communities (Microsoft, Albie
  von Gordon, E-Logics)
• Algon-P
• applying Algon framework to parallel algorithms
  (ELogics)

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Algon

• Framework for interchangeable distributed
  algorithms
• Can also interchange middlewares e.gRMI to Corba
• Includes a performance monitoring display
• Used for mutual exclusion, deadlock, termination
• Now adapting it to parallel algorithms for use
  in supply chain management
• Karen Renaud, Judith Bishop, Johnny Lo, Basil
  Worrall, Algon from interchangeable distributed
  algorithms to interchangeable middleware,
  Software Composition 04, EENCS, Vol 127 (1)
  pp59-78, Barcelona, April 2004
• Karen Renaud, Johnny Lo, Judith Bishop, Pieter
  van Zyl and Basil Worrall, Algon A Framework for
  Supporting Comparison of Distributed Algorithm
  Performance. PDP03 11th Euromicro Conf on
  Parallel Distributed and Network based
  Processing. ed. Andrea Clematis, pp 425-432,
  Genoa, Italy, Feb 2003
• Bishop J, Renaud K and Worrall B, Composition of
  distributed software with Algon prospects and
  possibilities, Software Composition 02, EENCS
  Vol 114 pp 65-85, Grenoble, April 2002  

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Views

• XML-based vendor independent GUI engine
• Retargetable from Windows to any platform with
  minimum effort
• Used in teaching, basis for language research,
  e.g. reflection
• Predates Vista and Avalon (next Windows)

1. Judith Bishop and Basil Worrall, Towards platform
   independence retargeting GUI libraries on .NET,
   3rd Conf .NET Technologies, Plzen May 2005.
2. Judith Bishop, R Nigel Horspool and Basil
   Worrall, Experience in integrating Java with C
   and .NET, To appear, Concurrency Computation and
   Experience, June 2005
3. Judith Bishop and Nigel Horspool, Developing
   Principles of GUI Programming Using Views,
   Proceedings of SIGCSE'04, ACM Press, pp. 373-377,
   Norfolk, VA, March 2004.
4. Judith Bishop and Nigel Horspool, C Concisely,
   Addison-Wesley, pp442 ISBN 0-321-15418-5, 2004.

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Funding - income
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
NRF 106 86 163 169 191
Courses 82 39
International Collabs 80 22 87 49 104
THRIP 105 141 759 698 570
Confs 10 9 26 10 164
Papers 2 18 1 5
TOTAL 385 297 1053 927 1034
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Research outcomes 2001-2005
4.5 per annum
4 Accredited journal articles
13 International peer-reviewed conference papers
4 Books (including CD02)
1 Book chapter
1 Conference Poster
11 Technical Reports (mainly in SE area)
4 Higher degrees (8 in progress)
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Challenges for the future

• Scientific
• High performance computing growth in the Northern
  provinces
• Aspect orientation into the main stream (and with
  HPC)
• Completing the Nomad project
• Programming with verification (Spec)
• Service
• More IFIP involvement incl. Summer School 2006
• Upcoming SAICSIT conference
• Rotor Workshop at Microsoft Redmond in the same
  week!
• First SA-Italian Workshop in Jan 2006
• Hosting our Humboldt Scholar (Prof Geihs) 2006
• First C first year courses in 2006
• Sustenance
• New THRIP grants for 2006