The 47 papers in this volume provide a useful reference tool for the state-of-the-art research in real-time programming.

Computer scientists have long appreciated that the relationship between algorithms and architecture is crucial. Broadly speaking the more specialized the architecture is to a particular algorithm then the more efficient will be the computation. The penalty is that the architecture will become useless for computing anything other than that algorithm. This message holds for the algorithms used in real-time automatic control as much as any other field. These Proceedings will provide researchers in this field with a useful up-to-date reference source of recent developments.

In the past decade, the formal theory of specification, verfication and development of real-time programs has grown from work of a few specialized groups to a real "bandwagon". Many eminent research groups have shifted their interests in this direction. Consequently, research in real-time is now entering established research areas in formal methods, such as process algebra, temporal logic, and model checking. This volume contains the proceedings of a workshop dedicated to the theory of real-time with the purpose of stepping back and viewing the results achieved as well as considering the directions of ongoing research. The volume gives a representative picture of what is going on in the field worldwide, presented by eminent, active researchers. The material in the volume was prepared by the authors after the workshop took place and reflects the results of the workshop discussions.

Software quality is a generalised statement difficult to agree or disagree with until a precise definition of the concept of "Software Quality" is reached in terms of measurable quantities. Unfortunately, for the software technology the basic question of: • what to measure; • how to measure; • when to measure; • how to deal with the data obtained are still unanswered and are also closely dependant on the field of application. In the past twenty years or more there have been a number of conferences and debates focusing on the concept of Software Quality, which produced no real industrial impact. Recently, however, the implementation of a few generic standards (ISO 9000, IEEE etc.) has produced and improved application of good practice principles at the industrial level. As a graduate in PhYSiCS, I still believe it is a long way before the concept of Software Quality can be defined exactly and measured, if ever. This is way I think the AQuIS series of conferences is important, its object begin to provide a platform for the transfer of technology and know how between Academic, Industrial and Research Institutions, in the field of Software Quality. Their objects are: • to provide a forum for the introduction and discussion of new research breakthroughs in Software Quality; • to provide professional Software Quality engineers with the necessary exposure to the results of current research; • to expose the research community to the problems of practical application of new results.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECCOP '94), held in Bologna, Italy in July 1994. ECOOP is the premier European event on object-oriented programming and technology. The 25 full refereed papers presented in the volume were selected from 161 submissions; they are grouped in sessions on class design, concurrency, patterns, declarative programming, implementation, specification, dispatching, and experience. Together with the keynote speech "Beyond Objects" by Luc Steels (Brussels) and the invited paper "Putting Objects to Work" by Norbert A. Streitz (GMD-IPSI, Darmstadt) they offer an exciting perspective on object-oriented programming research and applications.

The first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject rather than a collection of papers. The author is a recognized authority in the field as well as an outstanding teacher lauded for his ability to convey these concepts clearly to many different audiences. A handy reference for practitioners in the field.

This set of proceedings contains the most significant papers presented at the third IFAC Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Real-time Control, which was held from September 23-25, 1991 in the USA. In this workshop, although there were still some "exotic" applications, a more practical view of the applications and limitations of current AI technology dominated the participants' discussions. With its resultant focus on reliability and safety considerations, the workshop posed as many questions as it answered. It provides an excellent mirror of the current state-of-the-art which these proceedings are intended to illustrate.

The research reports presented in this volume focus on the implications of the T9000 microprocessor, which offers new elements in transputing and parallel programming. Subjects discussed include genetic algorithms, image analysis, neural networks, robotics and parallel architectures.

The complexity of most real-time and embedded systems often exceeds that of other types of systems since, in addition to the usual spectrum of problems inherent in software, they need to deal with the complexities of the physical world. That world—as the proverbial Mr. Murphy tells us—is an unpredictable and often unfriendly place. Consequently, there is a very strong motivation to investigate and apply advanced design methods and technologies that could simplify and improve the reliability of real-time software design and implementation. As a result, from the first versions of UML issued in the mid 1990’s, designers of embedded and real-time systems have taken to UML with vigour and enthusiasm. However, the dream of a complete, model-driven design flow from specification through automated, optimised code generation, has been difficult to realise without some key improvements in UML semantics and syntax, specifically targeted to the real-time systems problem. With the enhancements in UML that have been proposed and are near standardisation with UML 2. 0, many of these improvements have been made. In the Spring of 2003, adoption of a formalised UML 2. 0 specification by the members of the Object Management Group (OMG) seems very close. It is therefore very appropriate to review the status of UML as a set of notations for embedded real-time systems - both the state of the art and best practices achieved up to this time with UML of previous generations - and where the changes embodied in the 2.

ETAPS 2002 was the ?fth instance of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software. ETAPS is an annual federated conference that was established in 1998by combining a number of existing and new conferences. This year it comprised 5 conferences (FOSSACS, FASE, ESOP, CC, TACAS), 13 satellite workshops (ACL2, AGT, CMCS, COCV, DCC, INT, LDTA, SC, SFEDL, SLAP, SPIN, TPTS, and VISS), 8invited lectures (not including those speci?c to the satellite events), and several tutorials. The events that comprise ETAPS address various aspects of the system - velopment process, including speci?cation, design, implementation, analysis, and improvement. The languages, methodologies, and tools which support these - tivities are all well within its scope. Di?erent blends of theory and practice are represented, with an inclination towards theory with a practical motivation on one hand and soundly-based practice on the other. Many of the issues involved in software design apply to systems in general, including hardware systems, and the emphasis on software is not intended to be exclusive.