[ecoop-info] Call for Papers: Empirical Evaluation of Software Composition Techniques 2012

[Stefan Hanenberg]

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Call for Papers - 3rd Workshop on
Empirical Evolution of Software Composition Techniques (ESCOT'12)
- in conjunction with AOSD'12, Potsdam, March 27 2012
- http://dawis2.icb.uni-due.de/events/escot2012/
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The primary goal of the 3rd Workshop on Empirical Evaluation of Software
Composition Techniques is to foster and strengthen the collaboration and
exchange between researchers who work on questions regarding the
evaluation of composition techniques, modularity mechanisms, and
corresponding languages. In contrast to previous editions, ESCOT’12 will
focus on discussing research methods and not (as much) on presenting
specific evaluation results. Although not structured as tutorial, we
will introduce and discuss many different  strategies for empirical
evaluation.

Due to the wide range of empirical methods, it is important to share
knowledge about these different approaches and to discuss their relative
strengths and weaknesses. More precisely, the following points may be
discussed:

    * What are proper experimental or quasi-experimental approaches for
studying the effectiveness of software composition techniques?

    * Given the large variety of statistical approaches available to
researchers, given various experimental or quasi-experimental designs,
which lead to the most predictive and scientifically sound data analysis
for computer science research?

    * How can we empirically assess the usability and usefulness of
composition techniques within industrial settings, considering cost bounds?

    * Do the existing empirical evaluations already reveal replicable
knowledge regarding composition techniques?

In particular, we are looking for contributions regarding controlled
experiments, case studies, field studies, benchmarks, metrics, code
repository mining and other strategies in the context of evaluating
languages and tools, with the main focus on applying research methods,
on discussing trade-offs between strategies, and on experience reports.

We seek three kinds of contributions:

    * Full papers (up to 8 pages): Full papers present a novel
contribution to evaluating languages or tools at methodology level or an
experience report about conducing a specific evaluation or using a
specific method. Full papers are presented in the workshop (15-20 min
presentation, 10-15 min discussion).

    * Research question (abstract only, at most 2 pages): A research
question gives an overview of an interesting problem that should be
evaluated. Research questions should initiate a discussion about
suitable evaluation criteria and methods. The author may already propose
an evaluation plan or show initial results to get feedback. Selected
research questions are presented at the workshop in form of a short talk
(6 minutes), followed by a longer discussion.

    * Position statement (abstract only, at most 2 pages): A position
statement advocates a position for or against one or more research
methods, typically based in some prior experience. Position statements
are meant as introduction for a panel-like discussion and will be
presented in a pitch talk at the workshop (3-6 minutes).

Full papers are reviewed by at least three members of the program
committee. Accepted papers will be published in the workshop proceedings
in the ACM digital library. In contrast, research questions and position
papers do not require scientific rigour and are published at the
workshop’s web page. They are selected by the organizers with the aim of
creating interesting, broad, and potentially controversial discussions.
We invite researchers to submit and present research questions and
position statements based on previous (possibly published) work. We aim
for a lively discussion about when or when not to apply certain research
methods.

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Workshop Format
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The workshop is scheduled for one full day and will be a highly
interactive event. The workshop begins with a keynote. Then, the
accepted papers are presented in sessions. We are allocating 15-20 min
for each accepted paper and 10-15 min for discussion.

We plan to allocate one session to a panel-like discussion, exchanging
positions about different research methods (see position statements
above on how to contribute). Finally, we will spend at least half a
session discussion interesting research questions and what kind of
research method could be used to evaluate them (see research question
above, if you like to contribute a problem).

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Important Dates
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The workshop will take place on March 27th, 2012 in Potsdam, co-located
with the International Conference on Aspect-Oriented Software
Development (AOSD).

Full papers must be submitted by December 22nd, 2011 through Easychair.
Papers must conform to ACM format. Notification will be sent by January
17, 2012, the camera ready version is due by January 24, 2012.

For research questions and position statements, submissions should be in
plain text format, a title and short abstract is sufficient. There is
only a soft deadline: Submissions before February 10, 2012 will be
notified by February 17, 2012 (before the early registration deadline).
However,  as long as there is still space in the program, we accept also
later submissions for these tracks, until the day of the workshop. If
you are visiting the AOSD conference, join our workshop and feel free to
contribute a research question or a position statement or just join the
discussion.

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Organizers
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Stefan Hanenberg (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Christian Kästner (University of Marburg)
Andreas Stefik (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

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Stefan Hanenberg
University of Duisburg-Essen
Institute for Computer Science
and Business Information Systems (ICB)
phone: (+49) 201-183 3678 | fax: (+49) 201-183 4460
email: mailto:stefan.hanenberg at icb.uni-due.de
http://www.dawis.wiwi.uni-due.de/team/stefan-hanenberg/
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