Computer Engineering Technology: Books

This open access 3-volume set constitutes the proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Computer-Aided Verification, CAV 2024, which took place in Montreal, Canada, during July 24-27, 2024. The primary focus of CAV is to extend the frontiers of verification techniques by expanding to new domains such as security, quantum computing, and machine learning.

This open access book provides a basic introduction to feature modelling and analysis as well as to the integration of AI methods with feature modelling. It is intended as an introduction for researchers and practitioners who are new to the field and will also serve as a state-of-the-art reference to this audience. While focusing on the AI perspective, the book covers the topics of feature modelling (including languages and semantics), feature model analysis, and interacting with feature model configurators. These topics are discussed along the AI areas of knowledge representation and reasoning, explainable AI, and machine learning.

This open access book improves the users' skills needed to implement models for performance evaluation of digital infrastructures. Building a model is usually a relatively easy task, but making it an accurate representation of the phenomenon to be reproduced is a completely different matter. It is well-known that to increase the ability to build reliable models it is necessary to accumulate experience. The book addresses this need by presenting a collection of case studies of increasing complexity. Readers are introduced to the modeling process gradually, learning the basic concepts step-by-step as they go through the case studies. Queueing Networks are used to design the models solved with simulation and analytical techniques from the open source Java Modelling Tools (JMT). Among the models analyzed there are systems for optimizing performance, identifying bottlenecks, evaluating the impact of the variability of traffic and service demands, analyzing the effects of synchronization policies in parallel computing. Four case studies derived from real-life scenarios are also presented: a surveillance system, autoscaling load fluctuations, web app workflow simulation, and crowd computing platform. This book serves as a reference tool for graduate and senior-level computer science students in courses of performance evaluation and modeling, as well as for researchers and practitioners. 

This open access book explains the state of the art in quantum software engineering and design, independent from a specific hardware. It deals with quantum software theoretical aspects and with classical software engineering concepts like agile development approaches, validation, measurement, and deployment applied in a quantum or hybrid environment, and is complemented by a number of various industry applications. After an introductory chapter overviewing the contents of the subsequent chapters, the book is composed of three parts. It starts with a theoretical part on quantum software, as a bold declaration that quantum software theory is deep and valuable independent from the existence of specific quantum hardware. It is based upon the claim that quantum software is the more general theory subsuming classical and hybrid software system theories. The second, more extensive part deals with quantum software system and engineering design. Its quality follows from the comparison of the broad diversity of sometimes conflicting views. Moreover, the variety of approaches to design, enable the reader to make a well-pondered rational choice of preference. The book concludes with a third part, referring to multiple software applications and corresponding laboratory experiences, in order to understand their implications in practice and avoid repeating past mistakes. This book is of interest to industry professionals and researchers in academia, which are either producing or applying quantum software systems in their work or are considering their potential utility in the future. Furthermore, it also could be beneficial for practitioners already experienced with classical software engineering who desire to understand the fundamentals or possible applications of quantum software.

This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Software Business, ICSOB 2023, which was held in Lahti, Finland, during November 27-29, 2023. The special theme of ICSOB 2023 was Digital Agility: Mastering Change in Software Business and Digital Services. The 27 full papers and 8 short papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 79 submissions.  They were organized in topical sections as follows: Requirements; software  procurement; platforms, ecosystems and data; artificial intelligence; software startups; software product management; software and business co-development; and emerging digital world.