1993 Reports

Process Centered Software Development on Mobile Hosts

Skopp, Peter D.

Software Development Environments have traditionally relied upon a central project database and file repository, accessible to a programmer's workstation via a high speed local area network connection. The introduction of powerful mobile computers has demonstrated the need for a new model, which allows for variable bandwidth machines as well as transient network connectivity to assist programmers in product development. A new client-server model is introduced which minimizes network traffic when bandwidth is limited. To support disconnected operation, I propose a process-based checkout model by which process information and product files that may be needed during a planned period of dis-connectivity are pre-fetched with minimal user effort. Rather than selecting each file by hand, which is tedious and error-prone, the user only informs the environment of the portion of the software development process intended to be executed while disconnected. The environment is then responsible for pre-fetching the necessary files. It is hoped that these research efforts will enable programmers to continue working on a project without continuous high speed network access.