ACM MemberNet - February 25, 2014

Welcome to the February 2014 edition of ACM MemberNet, bringing you the world of ACM and beyond. Explore the many facets of ACM with our newsletter of member activities and events. Read current and past issues of MemberNet online at http://membernet.acm.org. Is there a person, event, or issue you'd like to see covered? Please email mn-editor at acm.org.

February 25, 2014

TOP STORIES

ACM Announces Slate of Candidates for Its 2014 General Election

ACM has assembled its slate of candidates for President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer (for the 2014 to 2016 term), and Members at Large (2014 to 2018). Statements and biographical sketches of all candidates will appear in the May 2014 issue of Communications of the ACM. Visit the ACM Elections page for more information and to view the slate.

2014 SIG Election Candidate Slate

In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following Special Interest Groups will hold elections in 2014: SIGCAS, SIGGRAPH, SIGSPATIAL, and SIGUCCS. ACM Policy and Procedures require that those SIGs holding elections notify their membership of candidates for elected offices. To see the slate of candidates, please visit the 2014 ACM SIG Election site.

In accordance with the SIG Bylaws, additional candidates may be placed on the ballot by petition. All candidates must be Professional Members of ACM, as well as members of the SIG. Anyone interested in petitioning must inform ACM Headquarters (Pat Ryan, ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, NY, NY 10121; [email protected]) and the SIG Viability Advisor Will Tracz of their intent to petition by March 17.

AWARDS

Eckert-Mauchly Award Nominations Due March 30

The ACM/IEEE-CS Eckert-Mauchly Award honors recipients with a certificate and $5,000 given jointly by the ACM and the IEEE Computer Society for outstanding contributions to the field of computer and digital systems architecture, where the field of computer architecture is considered to encompass the combined hardware-software design and analysis of computing and digital systems. Nominations are due March 30.

MEMBER RECOGNITION

Call for ACM Senior Member Nominations

The Senior Member advanced grade of membership recognizes ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart from their peers. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The deadline for nominations is March 3. Please read Advice to Those Seeking ACM Senior Members by Senior Member Committee Chair Susan Rodger on how to submit a strong nomination package.

SIG AWARDS

ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields

ACM's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) regularly cite outstanding individuals for their contributions in more than 35 distinct technological fields. Some awards presented (or to be presented) at recent conferences:

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

Young Scientists Invited to Apply for Second Heidelberg Laureate Forum in 2014

The organizers of the second Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) are encouraging young researchers to apply now to attend the Forum. The Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation (HLFF) is looking for outstanding young mathematicians and computer scientists from all over the world who would like to have a unique opportunity to personally meet distinguished experts from both disciplines and find out how to become a leading scientist in their field. Applications will be accepted until February 28. Successful candidates will be selected by an international committee of experts that will ensure only the most qualified candidates are invited. Submit applications online here. Nominations are also being accepted (use Organization Code ACM62954).

The second Forum will take place September 21–26, 2014. It will once again bring together winners of the Abel Prize and Fields Medal (mathematics), as well as the Turing Award and Nevanlinna Prize (computer science) for an inspiring week in Heidelberg. The young researchers attending the first Forum were from 49 countries. There are 100 spaces available for each discipline of mathematics and computer science. For more information on the program, visit the HLF website.

SIGCSE 2014, March 5 to 8, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia

SIGCSE 2014 gathers colleagues from around the world to present papers, panels, posters, special sessions, and workshops, and to discuss computer science education in birds-of-a-feather sessions and informal settings. The SIGCSE Technical Symposium addresses problems common among educators working to develop, implement and/or evaluate computing programs, curricula, and courses. The symposium provides a forum for sharing new ideas for syllabi, laboratories, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy, at all levels of instruction. Scheduled keynote speakers are Andrea Lawrence, Associate Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Spelman College; Robert M. Panoff, founder and Executive Director of Shodor, a nonprofit education and research corporation; Hadi Partovi, co-founder and CEO of Code.org; and A.J. Brush, Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research.

The First Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale will be held immediately prior to and collocated with SIGCSE, March 4 to 5. The conference is intended to promote scientific exchange of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the learning sciences and computer science. Inspired by the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the accompanying huge shift in thinking about education, this conference was created by ACM as a new scholarly venue and key focal point for the review and presentation of the highest quality research on how learning and teaching can change and improve when done at scale.

First Women in Cybersecurity Conference, April 11-12, 2014, Nashville, Tennessee

The First National Women in Cybersecurity Conference (WiCyS) will offer Distinguished Speaker sessions, technical presentations, technical workshops (both for faculty and students), poster competitions, Birds-of-a-Feather discussions, panel discussions, lightning talks, and a career fair. The conference is an effort to bring together women students, faculty, researchers, and professionals in cybersecurity from academia, research and industry for sharing of knowledge and experience, networking and mentoring. Any individual or organization interested in recruitment/retention of women in this field and/or diversification of their cybersecurity workforce is especially encouraged to get involved. ACM-W is a sponsor and support is provided by NSF. Visit these pages for registration (deadline March 10 or until capacity is reached), participation, sponsorship, and career fair opportunities. Visit the WiCyS timeline for a list of important dates, and the news page for frequent updates.

CHI 2014, April 26 to May 1, Toronto, Canada

CHI 2014, the premier international conference of human-computer interaction, will feature keynotes from a number of distinguished speakers including acclaimed author Margaret Atwood; UI designer Scott Jenson; Director of HCI at eBay Research Labs Elizabeth F. Churchill; and Jana Mobile CEO Nathan Eagle. Some of the different areas of CHI that will be explored in this conference are information and communication technologies; games and entertainment; interaction science; the "maker" culture; and the arts.

ICSE 2014, May 31 to June 7, Hyderabad, India

ICSE 2014, the International Conference on Software Engineering, provides a forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, experiences and concerns in the field of software engineering. Scheduled keynote speakers will include James D. Herbsleb, a professor at the Institute for Software Research in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University; Charles Lee Isbell, Jr., Senior Associate Dean, College of Computing and professor, School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology; and Armando Fox, a professor at University of California, Berkeley's Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Department as well as Faculty Advisor to the UC Berkeley MOOCLab. A CTO Roundtable will pair Jeannette M. Wing, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Research and ACM Fellow, and K. Ananth Krishnan, CTO, Tata Consultancy Services. Co-located events will cover a variety of topics in software engineering, including Mobile Software Engineering, Software Repositories, and workshops will cover many technical aspects of SE, including Crowdsourcing, Testing, and Data Analysis.

Call for Participation: SIGIR 2014, July 6 to 11, 2014, Queensland, Australia

SIGIR 2014 is the major international forum for the presentation of new research results and for the demonstration of new systems and techniques in information retrieval. The conference will feature papers, posters, demonstrations, tutorials and workshops focused on research and development in information retrieval. The Conference and Program Chairs are now inviting all those working in areas related to information retrieval to submit original papers related to any aspect of IR theory and foundation, techniques and application. Visit the submission guidelines page for a list of key submission dates, relevant paper topics, and instructions.

BAC 2014, October 8 to 9, Houston, Texas

BAC 2014, the first ACM-sponsored conference to focus on Business Analytics, will address key issues relating to organizing and managing massive volumes of data effectively, the evolution of analytics techniques and software tools to support complex analytical processes, and how business analytics impacts and changes business organizations and their competitive situations. Papers on theoretical foundations, economic impacts, Big Data, and more are invited for this inaugural event. Submissions are due May 30.

GHC 2014, October 8 to 11, Phoenix, Arizona

GHC 2014, the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, is the world's largest gathering of women technologists and is a great opportunity to gain professional visibility as a subject matter expert, expand your network and inspire other women in computing. This year's conference will focus on key areas where emerging technologies are having a dramatic impact. Submissions are encouraged from professionals at all levels, as well as students, in areas of software engineering, human-computer interaction, gaming, wearable computing, and more. The deadline is March 14. Other ways to participate: Submit a nomination for the GHC ABIE Awards for someone you know who is doing important work in the areas of technical leadership, social impact, emerging leaders, and educators. Deadline is May 15. Apply for a scholarship: GHC Scholarship Grants enable students and faculty, who would not otherwise have the opportunity, to attend GHC. Deadline is April 16.

SPLASH 2014, October 20 to 24, Portland, Oregon

SPLASH 2014, the ACM SIGPLAN conference on Systems, Programming, Languages and Applications: Software for Humanity embraces all aspects of software construction and delivery to make it the premier conference at the intersection of programming, languages, and software engineering. Submissions for OOPSLA, Onward! Research Papers and Dynamic Languages Symposium are due March 25; for Onward! essays (abstracts), March 29; and for Onward! full essays, April 25. See the submissions page for more information.

MEMBER PROGRAMS

Become an Ambassador for ACM—You Could Be a Grand Prize Winner!

The Ambassadors for ACM program rewards ACM members like you for encouraging new members to join. Your first-hand experience with ACM's valuable career development and continuous learning programs makes you a perfect envoy to share your ACM experiences with prospective members. Please consider becoming an Ambassador for ACM. The 2013–2014 Ambassadors for ACM program offers opportunities for you to earn new prizes, rewards and bonus gifts with each referral. The top ACM Ambassador for January was Kyle Haptonstall.

Submit the ACM Referral Form, and your referrals can join ACM at a special discount rate. Our members are our greatest asset. Your support of ACM is critical to our continuing efforts to advance computing as a science and a profession.

Long-Term Care Program for ACM Members

Recognizing the significant need for long-term care planning among our members, ACM is pleased to announce a comprehensive Long Term Care Insurance Program. This program offers a portfolio of comprehensive plans from multiple highly rated insurance carriers and through a partnership with Long-Term Care Resources, ACM members now have a national network of long-term care specialists available to explain the costs and benefits of this vital program. More importantly, we have used the buying power of our association to obtain special discounted rates. Information is your best weapon in the fight against the dramatically rising costs of long-term care. Click here for more information or call 1-800-358-3795 to receive your free Long-Term Care Planning Kit.
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LEARNING CENTER

Watch February 27 Webcast with Mark Ebersole: "Achieve Massively Parallel Acceleration with GPUs"

Register to watch Achieve Massively Parallel Acceleration with GPUs, to be presented February 27 Mark Ebersole, GPU Programming Educator at NVIDIA. Ebersole will cover different ways of accelerating your code on GPUs, the current state of massively parallel programming with GPUs, as well as touch on future challenges and potential research projects.

ACM Learning Webinars are free with registration, available for streaming on all major mobile devices, and are recorded for on-demand viewing.

Discounts on CompTIA Certification Exams and Training Materials for ACM Members

ACM members are now eligible for discounts on CompTIA certification exams (including A+, Network+, and Security+), as well as learning content and training materials that prepare learners for these certification exams. Members can save 15% on CompTIA Exam Vouchers/Bundles and 10% on Training Content/Materials using coupons on the Learning Center's CompTIA page.

ACM Adds 1000+ Skillsoft IT and Desktop Videos

All ACM members now have access to Skillsoft's collection of 1000+ IT and desktop videos covering a variety of technical topics as well as productivity software. The IT videos include Business Skills for IT Professionals; Cloud Computing and Virtualization; Data and Databases; Enterprise Resource Planning; Networks and Telecommunications; Operating Systems and Servers; Security; Software Design and Development; and Web Development and Graphic Design. Desktop areas of coverage include Business Applications; Graphics and Design; IBM Notes; Internet; Microsoft Office 2010 and 2013; Microsoft Office 365; Microsoft Office for Mac 2011; Mobile Devices and Computer Skills; and Operating Systems.

These short videos (3-5 minutes each) are intended as "on-the-job support," complementing the ACM Learning Center's courseware and e-book collection, and highlighting specific tasks and features for users who are familiar with the relevant software or hardware applications. Explore all available videos by logging into the Learning Center, going to Books 24x7 and under "Browse Topics," choosing "IT and Technical Video Topics" or "Desktop Video Topics."

Skillsoft Course Exchange Refreshes Collection

The ACM Learning Center regularly refreshes its course collection based on usage analysis, feedback from ACM members, and newer versions becoming available. New courses added for the exchange that took place earlier this month include Certififed Ethical Hacker (CEH) version 8; CompTIA A+ 220-801 and 802; Agile Practitioner - (PMI-ACP & ScrumMaster aligned); and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 series: Implementing a Data Warehouse, Database Administration, and Installing and Configuring. Visit the Skillsoft course exchange page for the full list of new and replaced courses.

CAREER & JOB CENTER

Import Your LinkedIn Profile in ACM's Career & Job Center

Be sure to visit ACM's Career & Job Center to update your résumé or create a new one in the Résumé Bank. ACM members' résumés include an ACM logo on their entry, highlighting their ACM membership to employers.

Now available when posting a résumé in the Résumé Bank: import your LinkedIn profile. You will be required to sign in to your LinkedIn account. Please note that LinkedIn does not have exactly the same fields as ACM, so you will have to review the imported information and update where necessary. Once you have a résumé created and saved in our system, you can publish it to the Résumé Bank so that employers find you! Or keep it private and use it when applying online for jobs. Log in to ACM's Job Board and post your résumé today. You can also upgrade to a Preferred Résumé to keep it at the top of the Résumé Bank, highlighted with a star next to it for increased visibility ($25 for 90 days).

In addition, ACM offers CareerNews, which provides summaries of articles on career-related topics of interest to students and professionals in the computing field, in a bi-weekly email alert to ACM members. ACM members can subscribe to the CareerNews email alert service.

For more information about the Career & Job Center please contact Jennifer Ruzicka.

STUDENT NEWS

XRDS Needs You!

XRDS, the ACM magazine for students, is seeking students to become an active part of our team. Please email your resume/CV and a short paragraph about yourself to [email protected].

Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions

ACM Student Research Competitions (SRCs), sponsored by Microsoft Research, offer a unique forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present their original research at well-known ACM sponsored and co-sponsored conferences before a panel of judges and attendees. The most recent SRC winners presented at ICCAD 2013. The next conferences accepting submissions are:

Learn about more competitions on the SRC submissions page.

ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences

The ACM Women's Council (ACM-W) provides support for women undergraduate or graduate students in computer science and related programs who wish to attend research conferences. This exposure to the Computer Science research world can encourage a student to continue on to the next level (Undergraduate to Graduate, Masters to Ph.D., Ph.D. to an industry or academic position). The student does not have to present a paper at the conference she attends. Students can apply an unlimited number of times; however, once a student receives an award, she is no longer eligible for future ACM-W scholarships.

The ACM-W scholarships are divided between scholarships of up to $600 for intra-continental conference travel, and scholarships of up to $1200 for intercontinental conference travel. Scholarship applications are evaluated in six groups each year, in order to distribute awards across a range of conferences.

ACM-W encourages the student's home department to match the scholarship award and recognize the student's achievement locally within their department. In addition, if the award is for attendance at one of several ACM Special Interest Group conferences (SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGARCH, SIGCOMM, SIGCHI, SIGCSE, SIGDA, SIGECOM, SIGEVO, SIGGRAPH, SIGHPC, SIGIR, SIGITE, SIGMM, SIGMOBILE, SIGOPS, SIGPLAN, and SIGSOFT), the SIG will provide complimentary conference registration and a mentor during the conference. The number of free registrations available varies from SIG to SIG. The 2013-2014 scholarships are made possible by generous support from Google.

For application form, notification dates and more information, please visit the scholarships page.

Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate

ACM offers a special ACM Professional Membership for $49 USD (regularly $99) to help graduating students make the transition to professional careers, and take advantage of continuous learning opportunities, including free online books and courses and access to ACM's Career & Job Center. This one-year-only transition rate includes all the benefits of Professional Membership plus the option of purchasing a Digital Library subscription for $50. Recent graduates can access this special transition offer through ACM's convenient online renewal form, or by following the instructions on the paper renewal form. For more information, visit the Reasons to Transition to Professional Membership page.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROGRAM

The Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP) is one of ACM's most valued outreach programs, providing universities, corporations, event and conference planners, and local ACM chapters with direct access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry.

This month's featured speaker is Albert Zomaya. Albert is currently the Chair Professor of High Performance Computing & Networking and Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow in the School of Information Technologies, The University of Sydney. He is also the Director of the Centre for Distributed and High Performance Computing which was established in late 2009. He held the CISCO Systems Chair Professor of Internetworking during 2002–2007 and also was Head of school there from 2006–2007. Prior to his current appointment, he was a Full Professor in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at the University of Western Australia, where he also led the Parallel Computing Research Laboratory during from 1990–2002. His research interests are in the areas of parallel and distributed computing and complex systems.

Albert is the author or co-author of seven books, more than 500 publications in technical journals and conferences, and the editor of 16 books and 23 conference volumes. He serves on the editorial boards of more than 20 journals, including ACM Computing Surveys and IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, and has served as General and Program Chair for more than 60 events. He is an ACM Distinguished Engineer.

For more information on Albert, please visit his DSP speaker information page.
Albert Zomaya's Digital Library author page.

ACM, IEEE Computer Society Join to Share Distinguished Speakers Programs

IEEE-CS and ACM have joined to share their invited speaker programs, to further the dissemination of technical knowledge of computing fields that greatly benefit both memberships. IEEE-CS chapter volunteers can host a speaker from ACM's Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP), with access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry, by following the instructions on the DSP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an IEEE Computer Society Chapter.

IEEE-CS provides a popular offering of first-quality speakers serving its professional and student chapters. The Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP) owes its success to the many volunteers and staff members of the Computer Society who generously contribute their time and talent. Organizers of an ACM chapter, conference, or event can host a speaker from IEEE-CS's DVP by following the instructions on the DVP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an ACM chapter or event.

CHAPTERS NEWS

Welcome New ACM Chapters

Chapters are the "local neighborhoods" of ACM. The regional ACM Professional, Student, ACM-W, and Special Interest Group (SIG) chapters around the globe involve members locally in competitions, seminars, lectures, workshops, and networking opportunities. ACM welcomes these new chapters that were chartered January 11 to February 13, 2014:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • DDUC ACM Student Chapter (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi), New Delhi, India
  • IBA ACM Student Chapter (Institute of Business Administration), Karachi, Pakistan
  • IIT Roorkee ACM Student Chapter (Indian Institute of Technology), Roorkee, India
  • ITT Technical Institute San Antonio East ACM Student Chapter, San Antonio, Texas
  • Monmouth College ACM Student Chapter, Monmouth, Illinois
  • SCAD Atlanta ACM SIGGRAPH Student Chapter (Savannah College of Art and Design), Atlanta, Georgia
  • SUNY Oswego ACM-W Student Chapter (State University of New York), Oswego, New York
  • Trinity University ACM-W Student Chapter, San Antonio, Texas

ACM Professional Chapters:

  • Northern China ACM SIGDA Chapter, Beijing
  • Hong Kong ACM SIGDA Chapter, Kowloon
  • Singapore ACM SIGDA Chapter, Singapore
  • Taiwan ACM SIGDA Chapter, Tainan

ACM-W NEWS

Industry Leaders Inspire Attendees at Ontario Celebration of Women in Computing

By Wendy Powley, Member, ONCWIC 2013 Program Committee

The Fourth Ontario Celebration of Women in Computing (ONCWIC 2013), held on November 8 and 9, 2013, was organized and hosted by the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and chaired by Kate Larson. More than 200 attendees participated, attending sessions, competing in the student poster contest, networking with computing professionals from across Ontario, and participating in the career fair hosted by our many sponsors. All were inspired by the fabulous keynote speakers: Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify Inc.; Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and a former ACM president; and Kelley Irwin, VP of Technology Solutions at TD Bank Group. Attendees also enjoyed sessions on app development, agile computing, outreach, and negotiation and communication, as well as an excellent career panel.

Congratulations to our grand prize poster contest winner, Lalla Mouatadid from the University of Toronto, who will attend the Grace Hopper Celebration later this year, compliments of ACM-W. Congratulations also to our runner-up winners, Vida Movahedi from York University and Grace Yang from University of Waterloo, who were each awarded a $500 gift certificate from Best Buy sponsored by the IEEE Kitchener-Waterloo WIE Affinity Group.

We anxiously await ONCWIC 2014, which will be hosted by the University of Guelph.

ACM-W Celebrations showcase female role models, encourage mentoring and networking, supply accurate information about computing careers, and create opportunities for women to to present their research, often for the first time in their careers. The small conferences are run with almost 100% volunteer effort and involve considerable fundraising. If you are interested in working on or supporting any of the celebrations, please contact Valerie Barr or Jodi Tims. We'd love to have you join our conference committees or become a sponsor of this important effort to encourage and increase the participation of women in computing.

Join ACM-W's Membership Email List

Did you know that ACM-W offers a general email distribution list for its members? This ACMW-public list is a communication channel for disseminating general information about ACM-W, bulletins and upcoming events. To join the list: http://signup.acm.org/listserv_index.cfm?ln=ACM-W-PUBLIC.

Also read the ACM-W Connections newsletter for updates on ACM-W programs (celebrations, scholarships and awards, and chapters); Judy Olson's Ask Judy column (Judy is the 2011 ACM-W Athena Lecturer); and contributed articles and announcements of upcoming events.

PUBLICATIONS NEWS

IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing Launches

IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing (TASLP) has launched. The new journal is a merge of IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing and ACM Transactions on Speech and Language Processing. Papers from the new Transactions appear in both IEEE Xplore and the ACM Digital Library.

eLearn Magazine Enters New Era

Editor-in-Chief Alison Carr-Chellman outlines new areas of focus for eLearn, ACM's online distance learning magazine. These include design, K-12, international online education, management, corporate, and emerging technologies. Read more about these changes in her column.

Editor-in-Chief Sought for ACM Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization

ACM Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization (TACO) is seeking a new editor-in-chief. Nominations are due March 3.

ACM Transactions on Parallel Computing and ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms Accepting Submissions

ACM Transactions on Parallel Computing (TOPC) is now accepting submissions. TOPC is a forum for novel and innovative work on all aspects of parallel computing, including foundational and theoretical aspects, systems, languages, architectures, tools, and applications. Visit the submissions site for more information.

ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems (TSAS) is now accepting submissions. TSAS is a new scholarly journal that publishes the highest quality papers on all aspects of spatial algorithms and systems and closely related disciplines. Visit the submissions site for more information.

CACM Reports: How Software Redundancy Helped Deliver Curiosity to the Surface of Mars

Software controls all functions on Curiosity, the rover that landed on Mars a little over a year ago, and continues to plumb the mysteries of the Red Planet. NASA Jet Propulsion Lab scientist Gerard J. Holzmann describes the redundant software and hardware that ensured Curiosity would reach its destination and function as its designers intended in an environment where there are no second chances. In the February issue of Communications of the ACM, he focuses on the set of precautions the flight software team took in developing the Mars Science Lab mission software to ensure spacecraft reliability, and system debugging and repair from millions of miles away.

Communications, the flagship publication of ACM, offers readers access to this generation's most significant leaders and innovators in computing and information technology, and is available in print, web and digital format.

Read the news release.

ACM Queue Presents: The API Performance Contract

In The API Performance Contract, Robert Sproull and Jim Waldo ask, "How can the expected interactions between caller and implementation be guaranteed?" When you call functions in an API, you expect them to work correctly; sometimes this expectation is called a contract between the caller and the implementation. Callers also have performance expectations about these functions, and often the success of a software system depends on the API meeting these expectations. So there's a performance contract as well as a correctness contract. The performance contract is usually implicit, often vague, and sometimes breached (by caller or implementation). How can this aspect of API design and documentation be improved?

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM, the computing industry's most trusted source for news, analysis and insights! Non-members can use our online form and receive a new ACM membership with your 12-month subscription, or request a sample issue using our online free trial issue form.

ACM IN THE NEWS

"Revamped Computer Science Classes Attracting More Girls"

San Francisco Chronicle, February 18, 2014
Last spring, a University of California, Berkeley introductory computer science class enrolled more women than men for the first time. Berkeley professor and ACM Education Board member Dan Garcia says he broadened the class' scope beyond programming to focus on the impact and relevance of computing in the world, and included pair exercises.

"Facebook Tells the Computer Who You Love"

Cornell Chronicle, February 12, 2014
Cornell University researchers have developed algorithms that can correctly identify a person's spouse, fiancé, or other romantic partner, based on a map of Facebook friends, with about 70% accuracy. "We are trying to build up a sort of chemistry kit for finding different elements of a network," says Cornell professor and 2008 ACM-Infosys Foundation Award recipient Jon Kleinberg.

CIO Journal, February 4, 2014
In an interview, Google engineering chief and ACM Fellow and Grace Murray Hopper Award recipient Ray Kurzweil discussed a new type of search engine that he is developing, noting that search engines will have increasingly human-like problem-solving capabilities in the years to come.

"Building a Better Battery"

New York Times, February 4, 2014
University of Washington researchers have been working on a method for wireless devices to communicate without using any battery power; the technique involves harvesting the energy from TV, cellular, and Wi-Fi signals that are already in the air, says Washington professor Shyamnath Gollakota, 2012 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award recipient.

"Some Consider MSR India Mecca of Theoretical Computer Science: Jeannette Wing"

Business Standard, January 24, 2014
In an interview, Microsoft Research's Jeannette M. Wing (an ACM Fellow and Distinguished Speaker) discusses innovation in India, women in software research, and this year's research trends.

"Luis von Ahn on Duolingo's Plans for 2014"

Crowdsourcing.org, January 21, 2014
Duolingo, Carnegie Mellon University professor Luis von Ahn's language learning company and translation service, this year plans to add about 50 community-generated languages through the language incubator. In an interview, von Ahn, who received the 2012 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award, says he also wants to give the firm a more conversational aspect.

"Cryptography: Unsafe and Sound"

The Economist, January 18, 2014
Weizmann Institute professor Adi Shamir (who received the 2002 ACM A.M. Turing Award, along with Ronald Rivest and Leonard Adleman) and colleagues have exploited acoustic leakage to eavesdrop on a computer.

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