Quaestiones Informaticae Vol 4 No 1
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Item An Alternative Development of the Vienna Data Structures(Computer Society of South Africa (on behalf of SAICSIT), 1986) Philips, N.C.K.This paper presents an axiomatic specification of a data type which is shown to be equivalent to the Vienna data structures. The advantage of this alternative approach is its obvious simplicity.Item Research directions in information systems(Computer Society of South Africa (on behalf of SAICSIT), 1986) Mende, J.The success of a research project depends upon the inputs and outputs selected by the researcher, a poor choice entailing useless results or wasted efforts.To avoid this one might consider the following alternatives: t. Our present knowledge in the subject Information Systems largely consists of facts and engineering techniques, scientific principles being few and inadequate. This imbalance suggests that research aimed at extending the scientific foundations of the subject should yield more significant results than purely technical research. 2. Structural and functional similarities between information, business and academic systems indicate the existence of general laws that apply accross the interdisciplinary boundaries of the corresponding subject areas. Accordingly it should be possible to tran~fer principles and techniques from Business and Education to Information Systems and vice versa. 3. Economic History predicts that mankind is moving towards an Edensque state in which no one is obliged to work for a living. The information systems necessary in that state therefore constitute highly significant problems for re.,;earch.Item Modeller : a DSS for experimental study of Human-computer interaction(Computer Society of South Africa (on behalf of SAICSIT), 1986) Finnie, G.R.This paper describes the structure of a simple nonprocedural financial modelling system designed to collect a variety of statistics on aspects of novice interaction with decision support systems. Some findings on the use of HELP facilities by novices are discussed. Certain areas of difficulty experienced by novices are identified from an analysis of compilation and logical errors.Item The SECD Machine : An Introduction(Computer Society of South Africa (on behalf of SAICSIT), 1986) Dempster, RobertThe S(tack), E(nvironment), C(ontrol) and D(ump) machine was invented by Landin (1964) to perform the mechanical evaluation of symbolic expressions. The evaluation of an expression invariably involves the application of an operator to an operand. The concept of an applicative expression (AE) is thus formally introduced and discussed. This is followed by an overview of the SECD machine and a detailed trace of the SECD machine state transformations during the evaluation of an AE on the SECD machine.Item Ways of Assessing Programming Skills(Computer Society of South Africa (on behalf of SAICSIT), 1986) Bishop, J.M.The programming skills taught in first year computer science courses are more difficult to assess than the skills in older science courses because of the very large numbers of students involved coupled with material which is non-quantitative. For any question, there is a variety of solutions, and these are of a prose rather than a numerical nature. Moreover, writing a program involves a certain amount of design, the time for which is not easily fitted into traditional examination methods. Nevertheless, effective questioning and accurate marking is vital to the success of such courses. This paper looks at traditional and novel ways of assessing programming. It relates these to an accepted taxonomy of educational objectives and gives several practical guidelines for improving the quality of assessment.