In spite of the increasing sophistication and power of commercial spreadsheet packages, we still lack a formal theory or a methodology to support the construction and maintenance of spreadsheet models. Using a dual logical/physical perspective, we identify four principal components that characterize any spread sheet model: schema, data, editorial, and binding . We present a factoring algorithm for identifying and extracting these components from conventional spreadsheets with minimal user intervention, and a synthesis algorithm that assists users in the construction of executable spreadsheets from reusable model components. This approach opens new possibilities for applying object-oriented and model management techniques to support the construction, sharing, and reuse of spreadsheet models in organizations. Importantly, our approach to model management and the Windows-based prototype that we have developed are designed to coexist with, rather than replace , traditional spreadsheet programs. In other words, the users are not required to learn a new modeling language; instead, their logical models and data sets are extracted from their spreadsheets transparently, as a side-effect of using standard spreadsheet programs.

A number of advantages have been claimed for structured programming, though most of the claims have yet to be substantiated with experimental or field study data. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an experiment comparing the performance and attitudes of a group of student programmers writing structured code with a group writing unstructured programs.

This paper presents a method for the specification and evaluation of software modules. The proposed strategy involves the use of existing documentation and synthetic or benchmark programs to evaluate a set of key characteristics that represent the module under consideration. The method if discussed and illustrated by considering the evaluation of programming language translators in detail. An example demonstrates how the method is applied to the evaluation of the popular WATFIV FORTRAN compiler.

The author has two general objectives for his text: 1) to provide a general orientation to the stored program computer; and 2) to provide insight into the broad impact of computers on management and the managerial environment. The 18 chapters of the book are divided into three major parts to accomplish these objectives.