Abstract

Abstract
By designing systems as sets of modules that can be composed into larger applications, developers unleash a multitude of advantages. The promise of AOP (Aspect-Oriented Programming) is to enable developers to organize crosscutting concerns into separate units of modularity making it easier to accomplish this vision. However, AOP does not allow unit tests to be untangled, which impairs the development of properly tested independent modules. This paper presents a technique that enables developers to encapsulate crosscutting concerns using AOP and still be able to develop reusable unit tests. Our approach uses incremental testing and invasive aspects to modify and adapt tests. The approach was evaluated in a medium scale project with promising results. Without using the proposed technique, due to the presence of invasive aspects, some unit tests would have to be discarded or modified to accommodate the changes made by them. This would have a profound impact on the overall modularity and, in particular, on the reusability of those modules. We will show that this technique enables proper unit tests that can be reused even when coupled with aspect-oriented code.

Abstract
One of the main reasons that justify the student's failure in (introductory) programming courses is the lack of motivation that impacts on the knowledge acquisition process, affecting learning results. As soon as students face the difficulties concerning the development of algorithms or the coding in a programming language, they give up and do not try harder to solve other problems; they think it is a demanding activity and feel frustrated. In this paper we describe in detail an experiment conducted to verify the effectiveness, in terms of the increase in motivation and in knowledge acquisition, of combining program Animation tools with the immediate feedback provided by Automatic Evaluations Systems.

Abstract
The development of the Smart Grid concept is the pathway for assuring high reliability, control and management requirements in future electric power distribution systems. The Smart Grid can be defined as an electricity network supported by an intelligent infrastructure, both hardware and software, capable of accommodating high shares of Distributed Energy Resources. Within this line, a Smart Grid laboratorial infrastructure was developed, being dedicated to advanced research and demonstration activities. The adopted laboratorial architecture was developed according to the Microgrid concept, where Electric Vehicles are regarded as active and flexible players. Following the laboratory implementation, this paper provides a detailed description of its infrastructure and experimental capabilities, presenting and discussing different experimental set-ups and associated results.

Abstract
This paper briefly describes how property templates have been used to analyse and explore the interactive behaviour of a specific medical device (an IV infusion pump). It is proposed that interactive devices that satisfy properties based on the templates are easier and safer to use. The property templates act as heuristics for the development of suitable properties tailored to the details of the particular device. A mathematically based approach is used to prove that a specification of the device satisfies the properties. Copyright © 2015 ICST.

Abstract