Context, perspective, and programs

ABSTRACT

Context plays a large role in our perspective on the world around us--people see things differently depending on background, role, task at hand, and many other variables.

How do different contexts affect developer perspectives on software? What different ways do developers want to see a program? What different ways do they want to work with a program? How does a program mean different things to different people? How does context influence perspective? How do different contexts and perspectives interact? Can these interactions be reified, controlled, and parameterized?.

A broad range of work has explored these questions, but many issues remain open. We lack a general understanding of the concepts and mechanisms that can support the changes in perspective we need. We lack the ability to handle context and perspective systematically, easily, and reliably throughout software development.

Work is needed in a number of areas, from conceptual foundations to theory, languages, tools, and methods. A truly satisfying handle on these issues may even require a material expansion of the foundations of computation--or at the very least the foundations of programming languages.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.0 General

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
context, perspectives