Kode Vicious's thoughts on forking, config files, and using internal wikis.
Software Engineering and Programming Languages
Advertisement
10 Rules For Scalable Performance in Simple Operation’ Datastores
Partition data and operations, keep administration simple, do not assume one size fits all.
Considerable progress has been made toward the formation of a computing profession since we started tracking it in this column a decade ago.
Viscous Democracy For Social Networks
Decision-making procedures in online social networks should reflect participants' political influence within the network.
Advancing the State of Home Networking
Before building the network or its components, first understand the home and the behavior of its human inhabitants.
If you're one of the more than 1,000,000 scientists, practitioners, educators, or students who regularly read Communications of the ACM in print or online, you may have noticed that a new feature has recently been introduced on the magazine's Web site—video.
Specification and Verification: The Spec# Experience
Can a programming language really help programmers write better programs?
PageRank: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
The roots of Google's PageRank can be traced back to several early, and equally remarkable, ranking techniques.
Practical Application of Theoretical Estimation
One of the most popular and successful approaches to estimating software projects is the Putnam model. Developed in the 1970s by Larry Putnam, Sr., this model shares with other models a reciprocal exponent relationship of effort/cost to development time.
To ensure the timely publication of articles, Communications created the Virtual Extension (VE) to expand the page limitations of the print edition by bringing readers the same high-quality articles in an online-only format. VE articles undergo the same rigorous review process as those in the print edition and are accepted for publication on merit. The following synopses are from articles now available in their entirety to ACM members via the Digital Library.
If You Have Too Much Data, Then ‘Good Enough’ Is Good Enough
In today's humongous database systems, clarity may be relaxed, but business needs can still be met.
India has 1.2 billion individuals, of which about 400 million are in the 1–15 age group and another about 400 million in the 15–35 age group. India, therefore, has the opportunity and responsibility to provide the future intellectual work force in computing and other areas.
Why Concurrent Objects Are Recurrently Complicated
Nir Shavit's article "Data Structures in the Multicore Age" (Mar. 2011) was a thrill to read. I was especially intrigued by his exposition on concurrent objects. Also important is to point out that Shavit's pseudocode for the lock-free stack included an unstated restriction.
Technical Perspective: Data Analysis at Astonishing Speed
The importance of data analysis has never been clearer. Globe-spanning scientific collaborations are exploring data-intensive questions at a scale limited only by the power of the computing resources they can harness.
Online Advertising, Behavioral Targeting, and Privacy
Studying how privacy regulation might impact economic activity on the advertising-supported Internet.
In contrast to popular belief, proving termination is not always impossible.
Preserve Privacy in Statistical Correlations
Many thanks for Cynthia Dwork's article "A Firm Foundation for Private Data Analysis" (Jan. 2011), explaining why, in trying to formalize what is perfect privacy, we cannot use the late University of Stockholm economist Tore E. Dalenius's criterion.
Let ACM Help You Find Your Next Job ‘Online’
For the most coveted jobs and for organizations looking to hire experienced and talented workers, few online resources are more valuable than ACM's own Career and Job Center (http://jobs.acm.org), the engine driving the Careers section of Communications Web site.
An Interview with Steve Furber
Steve Furber, designer of the seminal BBC Microcomputer System and the widely used ARM microprocessor, reflects on his career.
Challenges and Business Models For Mobile Location-Based Services and Advertising
Mobile advertising will become more pervasive and profitable, but not before addressing key technical and business challenges.
Is Open Source Security a Myth?
We became accustomed to acquiring software by procuring licenses for a proprietary, immaterial object. However, in recent years, this habit has begun to be accompanied by a model characterized by software that comes with a compilable source code. This is "open source software."
With recent advances in laser rangefinders, faster algorithms, and open source robotic operating systems, researchers are increasing domestic robots' semantic and situational awareness.
Teaching computers to understand pictures could lead to search engines capable of identifying and organizing large datasets of visual information.
Shape the Future of Computing
ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.
Get InvolvedCommunications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.
Learn More