TR-IIS-04-009    PDF format

Abstract

Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) supports groups with communication and coordination during the execution of their activities. It allows physically dispersed teams to engage in a common task by providing an interface to a shared workspace. A variety of synchronous applications are playing a major role in distance education, joint program development, cooperative publishing, etc. As these applications are usually platform-dependent, groupware programmers have to develop new applications for each groupware platform. In this paper, we present a collaborative application developing environment called CollabRunJava, which allows the groupware developers to concentrate only on application-specific details. CollabRunJava supports 2 modes for developing applications. In the instant-develop mode, user can immediately execute and test the classes, which are also developed by our system. In the dynamic modify-observe mode, user can observe application behavior, debug applications and change the running applications codes without re-execution. Our system can be further enhanced by using plug-in components with the above mechanisms. For example, with the aid of visualization components, our system can help users explore program behavior. This also makes it helpful for distant learning and program testing.

Keywords: Java, interpreter, debug, collaboration, CSCW, software testing, e-learning