OOPSLA '08 Workshop: Escaped from the Lab: Crossing the Gap from Invention to Practice

Workshop date:  Monday October 20
Location:  OOPSLA '08 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee

Website Contents

Workshop Overview

This is the website for the OOPSLA workshop on software product development issues.

What are some of the common practices for taking new ideas and converting them into products?

An important dynamic in large organizations: one part of the organization over-commits (promises the earth, moon, and stars), and another part of the organization is forced to deliver. The extravagant promise of the Powerpoint presentation is converted into the trail of tears of the Gantt chart.

The grandiose project was originally supposed to be feasible. There were some small technology trials that proved out the basic ideas for low-volume transaction rates and simplified user interfaces. The product was supposed to be delivered in record time because of high rates of software reuse. So what went wrong?

This workshop will explore the intersection of object oriented technology, high reliability and performance requirements, large organizations, and conflicts in the software development process. Some questions we will consider are:

The workshop was an exploration of both traditional and modern approaches to creating reliable software and improving the reliability of existing software.

Some subjects to be considered in the course of this workshop:


How to participate in the workshop

Are you interested in joining the dialog on the issues of bringing research into practice?  Here is how you can join the workshop:

  1. Contact one of the workshop organizers listed below.
  2. Prepare a one-page "position paper" -- containing your ideas, questions, and experiences.  Send your position paper to mancl - AT - alcatel-lucent.com.  Position papers are due by September 1, 2008.
  3. You will receive notification of your acceptance into the workshop by September 8.
The workshop is organized as a set of interactive brainstorming and discussion sessions.  The workshop participants will prepare a poster to present at the OOPSLA poster session on Monday afternoon.

Workshop committee:

Link to the original workshop proposal: escaped.pdf

Position Papers

The following position papers have been submitted to this workshop:

Workshop Report

The workshop final report is on line here.


Last modified: July 22, 2008