June 1988 Table of Contents | Communications of the ACM

Authors

Rosalie Steier

Pages 625-626

President's letter

Paul Abrahams

Pages 628-629

ACM forum

Robert L. Ashenhurst

Pages 630-637

Tablet: personal computer of the year 2000

A design represents a compromise between conflicting goals, and the design of the personal computer of the year 2000 is no exception. We seek something that will fit comfortably into people's lives while dramatically changing …

B. W. Mel, S. M. Omohundro, A. D. Robison, S. S. Skiena, K. H. Thearling

Pages 638-648

Computer graphics tools for the study of minimal surfaces

Recent research indicates machine computation and mathematical theory have proceeded hand in hand and have proved to be of great benefit to one another.

M. J. Callahan, D. Hoffman, J. T. Hoffman

Pages 648-661

Introduction to special section on software testing

The field of software testing spans mathematical theory, the art and practice of validation, and methodology of software development. To cover this range would require a textbook (or several texts), not a trio of articles. But …

R. Hamlet

Pages 662-667

The evaluation of program-based software test data adequacy criteria

In earlier work, a preliminary set of axioms for software test data adequacy was introduced in order to formalize properties which should be satisfied by any good program-based adequacy criterion. Here, we extend this work by …

E. J. Weyuker

Pages 668-675

The category-partition method for specifying and generating fuctional tests

A method for creating functional test suites has been developed in which a test engineer analyzes the system specification, writes a series of formal test specifications, and then uses a generator tool to produce test descriptions …

T. J. Ostrand, M. J. Balcer

Pages 676-686

The growth of software testing

We can trace the evolution of software test engineering by examining changes in the testing process model and the level of professionalism over the years. The current definition of a good software testing practice involves some …

D. Gelperin, B. Hetzel

Pages 687-695

Self-timing programs and the quantum scheduler

Using an internally generated program clock in conjunction with a quantum scheduler creates self-timing programs that are useful in building deterministic computer systems.

S. B. Guthery

Pages 696-702

Model management and structured modeling: the role of an information resource dictionary system

Models have historically occupied an ambiguous position within organizations. Management acceptance of management science and operations research models for decision-making has lagged far behind technical advances in these areas …

D. R. Dolk

Pages 704-718

Garbarge collection for Prolog based on WAM

The Warren abstract machine (WAM) has become a generally accepted standard Prolog implementation technique. Garbage collection is an important aspect in the implementation of any Prolog system. A synopsis of the WAM is presented …

K. Appleby, M. Carllson, S. Haridi, D. Sawhlin

Pages 719-741

Efficient and portable combined random number generators

In this paper we present an efficient way to combine two or more Multiplicative Linear Congruential Generators (MLCGs) and propose several new generators. The individual MLCGs, making up the proposed combined generators, satisfy …

P. L'Ecuyer

Pages 742-751

The equivalence of the subregion representation and the wall representation for a certain class of rectangular dissections

A rectangular dissection is a partition of a rectangular space R info n ≱ 1 disjoint rectangles {r1, r2, . . ., rn. Two classes of dissections that are of particular interest in floor-space design and very-large-scale integration …

S. Kundu

Pages 752-763

Graphics and managerial decision making: research-based guidelines

Graphical charts are generally thought to be a superior reporting technique compared to more traditional tabular representations in organizational decision making. The experimental literature, however, demonstrates only partial …

S. L. Jarvenpaa, G. W. Dickson

Pages 764-774

Edmund C. Berkeley—ACM founder

Peter J. Denning

Pages 781-782

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