Design implications for task-specific search utilities for retrieval and re-engineering of code

The importance of information retrieval systems is unquestionable in the modern society and both individuals as well as enterprises recognise the benefits of being able to find information effectively. Current code-focused information retrieval systems such as Google Code Search, Codeplex or Koders produce results based on specific keywords. However, these systems do not take into account developers’ context such as development language, technology framework, goal of the project, project complexity and developer’s domain expertise. They also impose additional cognitive burden on users in switching between different interfaces and clicking through to find the relevant code. Hence, they are not used by software developers. In this paper, we discuss how software engineers interact with information and general-purpose information retrieval systems (e.g. Google, Yahoo!) and investigate to what extent domain-specific search and recommendation utilities can be developed in order to support their work-related activities. In order to investigate this, we conducted a user study and found that software engineers followed many identifiable and repeatable work tasks and behaviours. These behaviours can be used to develop implicit relevance feedback-based systems based on the observed retention actions. Moreover, we discuss the implications for the development of task-specific search and collaborative recommendation utilities embedded with the Google standard search engine and Microsoft IntelliSense for retrieval and re-engineering of code. Based on implicit relevance feedback, we have implemented a prototype of the proposed collaborative recommendation system, which was evaluated in a controlled environment simulating the real-world situation of professional software engineers. The evaluation has achieved promising initial results on the precision and recall performance of the system.     

当代中国外交教学的缺失与启示

当代中国外交教学在取得诸多成就的同时,仍然存在着一些有待完善之处。在对中国外交教学过程中的缺失与不足进行分析后,作者认为,在外交教学的内容上,当代中国外交教学存在着中国意识相对薄弱、全球意识相对不足,学术理论体系与政策话语体系在教学中没有得到很好的区分,中国古代以及近现代外交思想史还尚未很好地运用到教学中,现代社会科学研究方法的训练不足等问题。在教学方法上,外交教学存在着中国外交研究与国际关系研究的结合程度不够,与政治学等社会科学的结合程度也不高等问题。教学界仍主要运用传统的历史研究方法,对理论分析工具和案例教学缺乏足够的重视,而且在理解上也存在一定的偏差。在教学宗旨上,当代中国外交教学还比较缺欠批判精神和批判意识,在一定程度上存在着政策辩护与政策反思的矛盾。笔者认为,在外交决策的教学中引入心理学、开设比较外交学课程、建设外交学理论课程、加强对先秦和民国外交史研究的课程、加强研究方法的训练等措施是完善当代中国外交教学的可行措施。     

论“准联盟”战略

准联盟战略是政治领导人运用次级安全管理机制与伙伴方开展针对外部敌人的安全协调与合作的战略理念、机制和行为,它是联盟战略与中立战略之间的灰色地带,是国家安全战略的隐性选项之一。准联盟战略的实施者试图在被牵连与被抛弃之间寻求平衡的支点——既加强安全合作,又避免卷入冲突;既增加朋友,又减少敌人。联盟战略建立在正式盟约之上,其执行主要依靠法律约束力(硬约束),而准联盟战略建立在次级安全合作协定之上,其执行主要依靠道德约束力(软约束),后者体现出四个主要特征:解决任务的选择性、合作手段的灵活性、战略指向的模糊性和主权让渡的有限性。在后冷战时期,传统安全与非传统安全相互交织,敌友之间的界限日益模糊,联盟战略效力下降。相比之下,准联盟战略日益成为影响国家间关系走向、国际权力格局转换和区域安全一体化的重要因素。