ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)

Baskerville, Richard

doi: 10.1145/162124.162127pmid: N/A

The security of information systems is a serious issue because computer abuse is increasing. It is important, therefore, that systems analysts and designers develop expertise in methods for specifying information systems security. The characteristics found in three generations of general information system design methods provide a framework for comparing and understanding current security design methods. These methods include approaches that use checklists of controls, divide functional requirements into engineering partitions, and create abstract models of both the problem and the solution. Comparisons and contrasts reveal that advances in security methods lag behind advances in general systems development methods. This analysis also reveals that more general methods fail to consider security specifications rigorously.

Eschermann, Bernhard

doi: 10.1145/162124.162132pmid: N/A

Finding a binary encoding of symbolic control states, such that the implementation area of a digital control unit is minimized is well known to be NP-complete. Many heuristic algorithms have been proposed for this state assignment problem . The objective of this article is to present a comprehensive survey and systematic categorization of the various techniques, in particular, for synchronous sequential circuits with nonmicroprogrammed implementations. The problem is partitioned into the generation and the satisfaction of coding constraints. Three types of coding constraints—adjacency, covering, and disjunctive constraints—are widely used. The constraint satisfaction algorithms are classified into column-based, row-based, tree-based, dichotomy-based, and global minimization approaches. All of them are illustrated with examples. Special coding requirements and testability-related aspects of state assignment are considered in a separate section. Different implementations of the algorithms presented are also compared.

Brancheau, James C.; Brown, Carol V.

doi: 10.1145/162124.162138pmid: N/A

The development of computing applications by the people who have direct need for them in their work has become commonplace. During the 1980s, development of applications by “end users” accelerated and became a key management and research concern. Known as “end-user computing,” the phenomena and research associated with this trend cross a variety of disciplines. This article critically surveys the published literature on end-user computing (EUC) management according to a comprehensive research model. The article introduces the EUC management research model, identifies prior research contributions, and offers guideline for the future. The focal points of the model are two EUC management components which represent two different levels of theorizing found in the literature. The first level focuses on the organization factors of strategy, technology, and management action. The second level focuses on the individual factors of end user, task, tool, and end-user action. The remainder of the model includes factors typically investigated as the antecedents (context) and consequences (outcomes) of EUC. More than 90 English-language articles published from 1983-1990 are mapped into the model. Specific variables for each factor are identified; research streams are interpreted; findings are synthesized; and gaps in our knowledge are highlighted. We then raise a number of substantive and methodological issues that need to be addressed and suggest two themes we envision as important for EUC management research in the 1990s: EUC as an extension of organizational computing and EUC as a social learning phenomenon. Guidance is offered for using these theme to inform future research.