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Publications

Publications by HASLab

2024

Editorial to the Second IFIP WG 2.7/13.4 Workshop on HCI Engineering Education

Authors
Spano, LD; Campos, JC; Dittmar, A;

Publication
DESIGN FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE, INTERACT 2023, PT I

Abstract
The second workshop on HCI Engineering Education continued the effort of the IFIP Working Group 2.7/13.4 on User Interface Engineering by discussing the issues and identifying the opportunities in teaching and learning Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Engineering. The workshop attracted eight papers covering different teaching contexts, ranging from massive university courses, passing through different teaching experiences in specific academic curricula, and even teaching engineering concepts to children. In addition, the workshop received input for improving and adapting the repository material to the dynamic nature of this field. The discussion after the presentation of the contributions focused on how to model competencies, the support to interdisciplinary work, the overall course design, the recruitment of the students and the provision of educational resources, paving the way for further editions of the workshop.

2024

An Online Repository for Educational Resources in HCI-Engineering

Authors
Spano, LD; Campos, JC; Dittmar, A; Forbrig, P;

Publication
DESIGN FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE, INTERACT 2023, PT I

Abstract
This paper leverages the outcomes of the first workshop on HCI Engineering Education [4] to create an online repository where the community can share content relevant to HCI. The repository takes advantage of the functionalities of the Git file versioning system to support presenting and adding content. The paper describes the structure of the repository and the process for adding new content. In addition, we propose an adaptation of the framework for presenting teaching samples, supporting more flexibility in the application of educational material for different teaching objectives. The new presentation format starts with describing a design problem and emphasises the students' applied understanding of conceptual and theoretical knowledge. The presentation format is demonstrated and discussed by the example of an end-user design tool for mobile data collection.

2024

Alloy Goes Fuzzy

Authors
Silva, P; Cunha, A; Macedo, N; Oliveira, JN;

Publication
RIGOROUS STATE-BASED METHODS, ABZ 2024

Abstract
Humans are good at understanding subjective or vague statements which, however, are hard to express in classical logic. Fuzzy logic is an evolution of classical logic that can cope with vague terms by handling degrees of truth and not just the crisp values true and false. Logic is the formal basis of computing, enabling the formal design of systems supported by tools such as model checkers and theorem provers.This paper shows how a model checker such as Alloy can evolve to handle both classical and fuzzy logic, enabling the specification of high-level quantitative relational models in the fuzzy domain. In particular, the paper showcases how QAlloy-F (a conservative, general-purpose quantitative extension to standard Alloy) can be used to tackle fuzzy problems, namely in the context of validating the design of fuzzy controllers. The evaluation of QAlloy-F against examples taken from various classes of fuzzy case studies shows the approach to be feasible.

2024

On the Relational Basis of Early R/G Work

Authors
Oliveira, N;

Publication
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Abstract
The R/G approach to the development of interfering programs was initiated by the pioneering work of Cliff Jones (1981) on a relational basis. R/G has been the subject of much research since then, most of it deviating from the original relational set-up. This paper looks at such early work from a historical perspective and shows how it can be approached and extended using state-of-the-art relational algebra. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

2024

Databases in Edge and Fog Environments: A Survey

Authors
Ferreira, LMM; Coelho, F; Pereira, J;

Publication
ACM COMPUTING SURVEYS

Abstract
While a significant number of databases are deployed in cloud environments, pushing part or all data storage and querying planes closer to their sources (i.e., to the edge) can provide advantages in latency, connectivity, privacy, energy, and scalability. This article dissects the advantages provided by databases in edge and fog environments by surveying application domains and discussing the key drivers for pushing database systems to the edge. At the same time, it also identifies the main challenges faced by developers in this new environment and analyzes the mechanisms employed to deal with them. By providing an overview of the current state of edge and fog databases, this survey provides valuable insights into future research directions.

2024

When Amnesia Strikes: Understanding and Reproducing Data Loss Bugs with Fault Injection

Authors
Ramos, M; Azevedo, J; Kingsbury, K; Pereira, J; Esteves, T; Macedo, R; Paulo, J;

Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF THE VLDB ENDOWMENT

Abstract
We present LAZYFS, a new fault injection tool that simplifies the debugging and reproduction of complex data durability bugs experienced by databases, key-value stores, and other data-centric systems in crashes. Our tool simulates persistence properties of POSIX file systems (e.g., operations ordering and atomicity) and enables users to inject lost and torn write faults with a precise and controlled approach. Further, it provides profiling information about the system's operations flow and persisted data, enabling users to better understand the root cause of errors. We use LAZYFS to study seven important systems: PostgreSQL, etcd, Zookeeper, Redis, LevelDB, PebblesDB, and Lightning Network. Our fault injection campaign shows that LAZYFS automates and facilitates the reproduction of five known bug reports containing manual and complex reproducibility steps. Further, it aids in understanding and reproducing seven ambiguous bugs reported by users. Finally, LAZYFS is used to find eight new bugs, which lead to data loss, corruption, and unavailability.

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