Memorias de investigación
Artículos en revistas:
A Model-Driven Approach to Teaching Concurrency
Año:2013
Áreas de investigación
  • Ciencias de la computación y tecnología informática
Datos
Descripción
We present an undergraduate course on concurrent programming where formal models are used in different stages of the learning process. The main practical difference with other approaches lies in the fact that the ability to develop correct concurrent software relies on a systematic transformation of formal models of inter-process interaction (so called shared resources), rather than on the specific constructs of some programming language. Using a resource-centric rather than a language-centric approach has some benefits for both teachers and students. Besides the obvious advantage of being independent of the programming language, the models help in the early validation of concurrent software design, provide students and teachers with a lingua franca that greatly simplifies communication at the classroom and during supervision, and help in the automatic generation of tests for the practical assignments. This method has been in use, with slight variations, for some 15 years, surviving changes in the programming language and course length. In this article, we describe the components and structure of the current incarnation of the course?which uses Java as target language?and some tools used to support our method. We provide a detailed description of the different outcomes that the model-driven approach delivers (validation of the initial design, automatic generation of tests, and mechanical generation of code) from a teaching perspective. A critical discussion on the perceived advantages and risks of our approach follows, including some proposals on how these risks can be minimized. We include a statistical analysis to show that our method has a positive impact in the student ability to understand concurrency and to generate correct code.
Internacional
Si
JCR del ISI
No
Título de la revista
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
ISSN
1946-6226
Factor de impacto JCR
Información de impacto
Volumen
13
DOI
10.1145/2414446.2414451
Número de revista
1
Desde la página
1
Hasta la página
1000
Mes
ENERO
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Participantes
Grupos de investigación, Departamentos, Centros e Institutos de I+D+i relacionados
  • Creador: Grupo de Investigación: Computación lógica, Lenguajes, Implementación y Paralelismo (CLIP)
  • Grupo de Investigación: BABEL: Desarrollo de Software Fiable y de Alta Calidad a partir de Tecnología Declarativa