Call for Papers -- PLAC 2007 @ OOPSLA 2007 [9-9-10]

Hello,  "Sorry for Multiple Copies"  "PLEASE DISRIBUTE To Your Mailing 
Lists"  Thank you. Cheers,  M. Fayad
________________________________

The First International Workshop on Patterns Languages: 
Addressing Challenges


PLAC 2007

Call for Papers

Montréal,  Canada, October 21, 2007
 (in conjunction with OOPSLA 2007)

http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007 (OOPSLA 2007 Link) 
http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/index.php?page=sub/&id=150 (Workshop Link 
1)
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/~fayad/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 2)
http://www.vrlsoft.com/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 3)

INTRODUCTION

A pattern language consists of a cascade or hierarchy of parts, linked 
closely together by patterns, which solve generically recurring problems 
that are associated with the parts. Each pattern has a title, and 
collectively the titles form a language for design [1]. Pattern Languages 
are simply a collection of interrelated patterns [2]. These interrelated 
patterns are combined in any way and combination to create new 
environments, where practitioners can solve context-specific problems. 
Precisely, the concept of pattern languages has invaded over into the 
software engineering field, to describe prior experiences and the 
processes that stem from them, in a very simple language, where patterns 
are tactfully woven as a whole, and can be combined in any manner to solve 
a particular and complex problem.  Yet, this process is still done in an 
ad-hoc manner and is not straightforward enough, to ease and speed up the 
software development process. 

Thus, this workshop is driven forward by three main questions. First, how 
can we classify, develop, and utilize analysis and design patterns 
together towards the path of a problem resolution? Second, what is the 
?behind-the-? language that guides the sewing of patterns together as a 
whole? And third, how can we overcome and face challenges, other than 
patterns composition problems (patterns traceability, etc.) that can 
hinder the development of a system of patterns? The inherent inability to 
answer these questions detrimentally impacts the understanding of how to 
put patterns in real practice, and  will therefore  make software 
patterns? use more complex than it should.


OBJECTIVE AND MOTIVATION

Building high quality systems is not an easy exercise, specifically when 
several factors can undermine their quality success, such as cost, time, 
and lack of systematic approaches. The potential promise of using software 
patterns in software development to deal with these aforementioned 
obstacles, has led software practitioners to steadfastly believe in the 
power of pattern languages, as the means for constructing complex systems 
in a constrained environment. 
 
Software Patterns, along with Pattern Languages, have recently attracted 
software practitioners for more than a decade. They have seen software 
patterns and pattern languages as really promising techniques that ease 
and speed up their software development [2, 3, 4, and 5]. However, 
developing robust software patterns and pattern languages has not reached 
the expected ease and flexibility it should have been, when dealing with 
determined problems; instead, they construct models that specifically lack 
some essential qualities that diminish the overall quality of the system 
rather than improving it [6]. 
 
The concept of Pattern Languages [3, 7, 8, and 9] is spilling over into 
the software engineering field, to highlight software development?s prior 
experiences or best practices, using a coherent language that can be used 
for both discussing about a particular problem and also in creating new 
environments from the patterns it conveys.   This language works by 
connecting a collection of patterns, as if they were in a detailed, 
narrated story.  Each of the patterns in the collection is an insightful 
and a novel way to manage or solve a set of recurrent problems in a 
particular context [2, 3, and 5]. As a whole, they make clearly visible 
both the knowledge that is pertinent to a particular domain, and the 
solutions for a set of recurrent problems. 

Pattern languages have emerged as a promising classification technique and 
in providing ways to build frameworks. However, there area number of 
problems [10], such as:

1.      Context?s missing indicators/guidelines for in-context patterns 
selection within the pattern language.
2.      Classifications of patterns? rationale within the pattern language 
structure is also missing.
3.      Traceability is lost, especially when dealing with deeper levels 
of pattern language implementation.
4.      No systematic way for compositing these patterns, similar or 
different, to build software architectures
5.      There is a loss of generality in traditional pattern languages.
6.      Pattern languages struggles and conflicts in providing full 
software maintainability and stability.
7.      How pattern languages deal with the problem they address is 
neither straightforward nor easy.
8.      There is no set classification in pattern languages.
9.      Pattern languages don?t distinguish between associate and remote 
knowledge.

WORKSHOP CHALLENGES

The workshop will address pattern languages? challenges and debate several 
issues related to the following questions.  We want researchers, framework 
developers, and application developers to discuss and debate the following 
questions related to: 

I.      Pattern Languages Creation and Development
a.      Leaving career experience claim on the side, can you show how to 
create and develop pattern languages?
b.      What are the bases of creating pattern Languages? 
c.      Are there guidelines, methodologies, and/or processes for pattern 
language creations and developments?
d.      Would you show an example or two of systematic and non-systematic 
pattern languages?
e.      What is the starting point of any pattern language?
f.      What are the components of any pattern language?
g.      What kind of patterns that appear in pattern languages?

II.     Pattern Languages Selection Process: 
a.      How does one select analysis and design patterns to create a 
pattern language?
b.      What is the basis for selecting these patterns into the pattern 
language? 
c.      If someone would like to build a system from patterns, how does 
he/she select patterns from the pattern language?
d.      What kind of patterns should one select to build a system from 
patterns?
e.      Is there a guideline for the selection process from a pattern 
language?

III.    Patterns Languages Composition
a.      How does one integrate the selected pattern languages to build any 
given system? Or how does one compose any system from one or more pattern 
languages? 
b.      What are the various claims related to pattern languages 
composition? Are they really true?
c.      Are there any guidelines or techniques for pattern languages 
composition? Would you illustrate how to use them?

IV.     System of Patterns and General Reuse
a.      What do we mean, when we say ?systems of patterns??
b.      Are the various claims related to building any system from pattern 
languages reasonable?
c.      How to develop pattern repositories and catalogs, from which 
pattern languages can be retrieved and reused?
d.      Are there any automated approaches for patterns using languages 
mining and integration?
e.      What other concepts will help assist build any system from pattern 
languages?
f.      Can patterns within a given pattern language appear in other 
remote pattern languages?
g.      Is it possible to create many architectures from a given pattern 
languages? How many architectures?
h.      Can we measure the ROI from the pattern language of a given 
domain?
i.      Is it possible to measure or perform cost estimation using pattern 
languages?
j.      It is possible to insert the quality factors with the pattern 
languages? How? 

V.      Impacts
a.      What is the impact of software stability on the above mentioned 
challenges and software quality factors?

More information will be available at:
http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007 (OOPSLA 2007 Link) 
http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/index.php?page=sub/&id=150 (Workshop Link 
1)
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/~fayad/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 2)
http://www.vrlsoft.com/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 3)


PAPER FORMAT AND SUBMISSIONS

Developers and programmers who are interested in participating in the 
workshop, are requested to submit a short position paper (3-5 pages), or 
regular workshop paper (limited to 6-15 pages, double spaced, including 
figures) representing views and experiences relevant to the given 
discussion topic. The title page must include a maximum 150-word abstract, 
five keywords, full mailing address, e-mail address, phone number, fax 
number, and a designated contact author. Workshop papers will be selected 
depending on their originality, quality and relevance to the workshop. All 
submitted papers will also be evaluated according to its originality, 
significance, correctness, presentation and relevance. Papers should be 
submitted electronically at:
 http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/index.php?page=sub/&id=150.  Please 
follow the instructions given on the web page. Camera Ready manuscripts 
must be submitted following ACM SIGPLAN conference proceedings style and 
guidelines. We also encourage authors to present novel and fresh ideas, 
critiques of existing work, and practical studies. 

Each accepted workshop paper must be presented in the person, either by 
the author or one of the co-authors.  To foster and promote lively 
discussions, authors are encouraged to present open questions and one or 
two main statements for discussion at the workshop.  Submissions must be 
made either in MS-Word or RTF formats (please, DO NOT compress files).

Depending on the total number and spread of contributions, the scope may 
be narrowed down to ensure an effective communication and information 
sharing session. Accepted position papers will be distributed to the 
participants, before the workshop and made generally available through the 
WWW and FTP.   Accepted papers will be published in the Workshop 
Proceedings. At least one of the authors of each accepted paper must 
register as a full delegate in the workshop.  Selected papers will be 
published in the online Journal of International Journal Of Patterns 
(IJOP) www.ijop.org. 

WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION

People who are interested in participating in the workshop, without making 
any submissions are requested to fill out the participation form and 
e-mail to any of the workshop chairs. 
-------------------------------------------------
PARTICIPATION FORM:
Name and Affiliation:
Position: 
Address: 
E-mail:
URL:
Areas of interest:
Reasons for Participating?
-------------------------------------------------
Please note that registration is mandatory, in order to participate in the 
workshop.  An early registration discount is available for all desired 
participants.  An overhead projector and a flipchart will be available to 
all participants. 

For more information please visit any of the following websites:

http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007 (OOPSLA 2007 Link) 
http://www.oopsla.org/oopsla2007/index.php?page=sub/&id=150 (Workshop Link 
1)
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/~fayad/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 2)
http://www.vrlsoft.com/workshops/PLAC07 (Workshop Link 3)

You may also contact the organizers, either by e mail or by phone.

PROPOSED AGENDA

1. Welcome and introduction of participants. The organizers will first 
provide  a short overview of all open issues and also of the main 
arguments arising out of the position papers. (Estimated time: 20-30 
minutes)

2. Selected authors (who?ll be representing the main trends) will be 
allotted  20 minutes to explain how their position relates to other 
positions, and what each one of them sees as the three major issues. We 
expect about 5-10 position papers in this session.  (Estimated time: 
120-130 minutes) 

3. The organizers will propose an identification process of the major 
issues, and the participants will then discuss, choose and select what 
they perceive are the hottest issues to be examined. (Estimated time: 
10-15 minutes)

4. The participants will work for 70-95 minutes in small groups, with a 
designated moderator assigned for each group. The groups will individually 
deal with two different, identified hot issues and will produce a summary 
note in the form of points and counterpoints, showing either how several 
views are irreducibly opposed or how they are complementary.  The total 
number of groups will depend mainly on the number of participants and 
issues selected; ideally there should be 3-5 p people in each group. 
(Estimated time: 60-70 minutes) 

5. Each group will be given 10-15 minutes to present its findings and 
inferences to the workshop.   A closing discussion will soon follow. The 
workshop report will be composed on the basis of these findings, and will 
include a clear cut agenda for future exploration and cooperation; this 
will be made available through the WWW and FTP. (Estimated time: 50-60 
minutes for five teams) 

(Total estimated time: 285-315 minutes, i.e. about five hours +/- 15 
minutes; lunch and breaks are not included.) 

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline             September 14, 2007
Acceptance notification         September 30, 2007
Camera-ready paper due          October 10, 2007
Workshop date:                  October 21, 2007
Conference begins:                      October 21, 2007

ORGANIZERS


DR. M.E. FAYAD  (CHAIR)
Professor of Computer Engineering
Computer Engineering Dept., College of Engineering
San José State University
One Washington Square, San José, CA 95192-0180
Ph: (408) 924-7364, Fax: (408) 924-4153
E-mail: m.fayad@sjsu.edu, mefayad@gmail.com
URL: http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/fayad

DR. CHIA-CHU CHIANG (CO-CHAIR)
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Department of Computer Science, 2801 South University Ave.,
Little Rock, Arkansas 72204-1099, USA
Ph: (501) 569-8142
E-mail: cxchiang@ualr.edu
URL: http://pandora.compsci.ualr.edu/cxchiang/index.html

HUÁSCAR A. SÁNCHEZ (CO-CHAIR) 
Independent Consultant
22 Marcin Hill, Burnsville MN 55337
Ph: 952-223-4060
E-Mail: huascar.sanchez@hsanchez.net
URL: www.hsanchez.net

DR. PABLO CHACIN (CO-CHAIR) 
Technical University of Catalonya
Departamento de Arquitectura de Computadores
UPC Campus Nord, C6-002
Jordi Girona 1-3
Barcelona 08034, Spain
Ph: +34 93 401 10 55
E-mail: pchacin@ac.upc.edu
URL: http://personals.ac.upc.edu/pchacin

DR. SRINI RAMASWAMY (CO-CHAIR)
Department of Computer Science
Dickinson Hall Suite 515
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72204 
Ph: (501)-569-8134
Fax: (501)-569-8144
E-mail: sxramaswamy@ualr.edu
URL: http://pandora.compsci.ualr.edu/srini/ 

DR. ARTURO SÁNCHEZ-RUÍZ, (CO-CHAIR) 
University of North Florida, USA
School of Computing
University of North Florida
4567 St Johns Bluff Rd. S.
Jacksonville, FL 32224-2669
Ph: 904-620-1314
Fax: 904-620-2988
E-mail: asanchez@unf.edu, Arturo@acm.org
URL: http://www.unf.edu/~asanchez

DR. SELMIN NURCAN (CO-CHAIR) 
Maître de Conférences
Centre de Recherche en Informatique, France 
Université Paris 1 - Panthéon - Sorbonne
Centre de Recherche en Informatique
90, rue de Tolbiac 75634 Paris cedex 13 FRANCE
Ph: 33 - 1 44 07 86 34 
Fax : 33 - 1 44 07 89 54
E-mail: nurcan@univ-paris1.fr
URL: http://crinfo.univ-paris1.fr/users/nurcan

DR. A. KANNAMMAL SAMPATHKUMAR (CO-CHAIR) 
Coimbatore Institute of Technology, TamilNadu, India
34/43, 14th Cross, 
Thirumagal Nagar, Peelamedu Pudur, 
Coimbatore 641 004, TN, INDIA.
Ph: 00 91 422 2574071
E-mail: kannaphd@yahoo.co.in
URL: http://www.citindia.com/Computer_Kannammal.htm

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Rami Bahsoon, Aston University in Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Javier Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, Spain
Rafael Capilla, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos,  Madrid, Spain
Rogerio Atem de Carvalho,  Federal Center for Technological Education of 
Campos, Brazil
Pablo Chacin,  Technical University of Catalonya, Barcelona, Spain
Chia-Chu Chiang, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, USA
Bernard Coulette,  University of Toulouse II, France
Sergiu Dascalu, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Sergio de Cesare, Brunel University, West London, United Kingdom
Jurgen Dix, Clausthal University of Technology, Germany
M.E. Fayad, San Jose State University & vrlSoft, Inc., Silicon Valley, USA 

Giancarlo Fortino, University of Calabria, Italy 
João Miguel Fernandes, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal
Maria Joao Ferreira, Universidade Portucalense, PORTO, Portugal
Rosario Girardi,   Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís, Brasil
Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc, Université de Montréal, Canada
Pilar Herrero, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Hoda Hosny, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Lise Hvatum, Schulmberger, Taxes, USA
Dong, Jing, University of Texas at Dallas, USA
A. Kannammal, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, TamilNadu, India
Mohamed-Khireddine Kholladi, University of Constantine, France
Dae-Kyoo Kim, Oakland University, USA
Jianzhi Li, De Montfort University, United Kingdom
Jing Liu, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Ricardo J. Machado, Universidade do Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal
Aime Mokhoo Mbobi, Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité, France
Supratik Mukhopadhyay, Utah State University, USA 
Selmin Nurcan, Université Paris 1, France
Flavio Oquendo, University of South Brittany, France
Toacy Cavalcante de Oliveira, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande 
do Sul, Brazil
Michael Oudshoorn,  Montana State University, USA
Shushma Patel, London South Bank University, United Kingdom
Loris Penserini, ITC-IRST, Automated Reasoning Systems, Italy
Agostino Poggi,  University of Parma, Italy
Srini Ramaswamy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA 
Philippe Roose, Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'Université de Pau et des 
Pays de l'Adour, France
Ahmed Salem, California State University , Sacramento (CSUS), USA 
Huascar A. Sanchez, Independent Consultant, Minnesota, USA 
Arturo Sánchez-Ruíz, University of North Florida, USA
Christian Schlegel, University of Applied Sciences Ulm, Germany
Alberto Rodrigues da Silva, Technical University of Lisbon,, PORTUGAL 
Marjan Sirjani, University of Tehran, Iran
Yasemin Topaloglu, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
Manolis Tzagarakis, University of Patras Campus, Greece
Hironori Washizaki, National Institute of Informatics, Japan 
Levent Yilmaz,   Auburn University, USA
Wolfgang Zuser,  OBJENTIS Software Integration GmbH, Austria

Received on Thursday, 23 August 2007 05:56:45 UTC