Ronald J. Leach

Professor, Department of Systems & Computer Science at Howard University

Education

M.S., Johns Hopkins (Computer Science)

Research Interests: Software Engineering, especially

• Software Reuse
• Software Measurement and Metrics
• Software Fault-Tolerance

Cost Modeling of reuse-based software engineering processes, partially funded by NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Books

1. Using C in Software Design, Academic Press , San Diego, California, 1993. Click here to see the Table of Contents.
2. Advanced Topics in UNIX, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994. Click here to see the Table of Contents. (Available in both hardcover and softcover.)
3. Object-Oriented Design and Programming in C++, Academic Press , San Diego, California, 1995. Click here to see the Table of Contents.
4. Software Reuse: Methods, Models, Costs, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997. Click here to see the Table of Contents.
5. Introduction to Software Engineering, CRC Press, publication November, 1999. Click here to see the Table of Contents.
6. Why Two K? Blackmask.com (online publication) Click here to see the entire book (free for now, except in Rocket Book format)

Recent Publications:

• "A Software Metric for Prediction of Testing and Integration Effort," with D. M. Coleman, to appear in Proceedings of the Computer Assurance Conference (COMPASS'97) Gaithersburg, MD, June 18-20, 1997.
• "Software Reuse in Changing Technology Environments," Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop in Software Reuse (WISR-8), Columbus, Ohio, March, 1997.
• "An Experiment in Program Reengineering," Proceedings of the Empirical Assessment in Software Engineering Conference (EASE'97), Keele University, UK, March, 1997.
• "Methods of Measuring Software Reuse," Journal of Software Maintenance, September/October, 1996, Vol. 8, pp. 309-320.
• Domain Analysis of the Linux Kernel, Software Engineering Notes, with T. L. Fuller
• Using Metrics to Evaluate Student Programs, SIGCSE Bulletin, June, 1995.
• "A Graduate Course in Software Reuse," Proceedings of the First Australasian Conference on Computer Science Education, Sydney, Australia, July 3-5, 1996, pp. 205-210. (Published by ACM SIGCSE
• "Involving Students in Computer Science Research," Proceedings of the 1996 ADMI Conference, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, July 24-28, 1996.
• "Software Reuse in Changing Technology Environments," Eighth Workshop in Software Reuse (WISR-8), March, 1997, Columbus, Ohio.
• "Archives for Software Testing Research" Proceedings of the 1997 ADMI Conference, Washington, DC May 31-June 1, 1998. (with J. Bailey, H. Taffesse, F. Uku, and J. Warner)
• "A Software Metric for Logical Errors and Integration Testing Effort," Proceedings of the Computer Assurance Conference, COMPASS'97, Gaithersburg, Maryland, IEEE, June 18-20, 1997.
• "Experiments on Software Reengineering," Proceedings of the IEEE National Aeronautics and Engineering Conference (NAECON'97), Dayton, Ohio, July 14-17, 1997, Vol. 2 (A97-44401 12-01), New York, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., p. 683-689.
• "Using the Internet for a Software development Project," SIGCSE Bulletin, Vol. 28, December, 1997.
• "A Reengineering Process Using Early Decomposition And Simple Tools," Proceedings of the Empirical Assessment in Software Engineering Conference (EASE'98), March 30-April 1, 1998, Keele University, UK (with C. Charles, K. Fagan, T Kimbrough, and K. R. Thomas).
• "A Reengineering Process Using Early Decomposition And Simple Tools," Information and Software Technology, 1998, Vol. 40 No. 14, pp. 871-875. (with C. Charles, K. Fagan, T Kimbrough, and K. R. Thomas).
• "Software Cost Estimation," Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, John Wiley, New York, 1999. "Measurement of Requirements: A Case Study," Proceedings of the International Function Point Users Group Conference, September 22-25, 1998, Orlando, FL, pp. 141-148.
• "Assessment of COTS Products from an Operating Systems Perspective," Pacific Northwest Quality Conference, October 12-15, 1998, Portland, OR.
• "Using Reuse to Drive Requirements," IASTED Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 28-31, 1998.
• "Economic Analysis of Reengineered Control Systems: A Case Study," Ground Systems Architecture Workshop, GSAW'99, February 15-17, 1999, Los Angeles California.

Recent Talks

• Reengineering the IMP-8 Ground System, NASA Independent Verification and Validation Center, Fairmount, WV, April 25, 1997.
• "Software Reuse, Components and Architectures," Fourth NSA Reuse and Reengineering Symposium, Laurel, Maryland, August 22, 1997.
• "Software Reuse: Positive or Negative," tutorial at Reuse'98, Morgantown, VA, August 25-27, 1998.
• "COTS Assessment," panel at Reuse'98, Morgantown, VA, August 25-27, 1998.
• "Measurement of Requirements: A Case Study," Proceedings of the International Function Point Users Group Conference, September 22-25, 1998, Orlando, FL.
• "Software Reuse: Positive or Negative," tutorial at Pacific Northwest Quality Conference, Portland, OR, October 12-14, 1998.
• "Assessment of COTS Products from an Operating Systems Perspective," Pacific Northwest Quality Conference, October 12-15, 1998, Portland, OR.
• "Economic Analysis of Reengineered Control Systems: A Case Study," Ground Systems Architecture Workshop, GSAW'99, February 15-17, 1999, Los Angeles California.

Papers Submitted:

• Using Reuse to Drive Requirements Analysis
• How the "Every Tub on its Own Bottom" Approach Affects Software Quality

Teaching:

• Senior project undergraduate course Senior Project
• Software reuse graduate course Software Reuse

Work in Progress

• Tools for visualization of inter-process communication in concurrent programs UNIX programs
• Website for visualization of threads in Java programs (under construction).
• Test bed of software testing examples for comparative research in software testing W.A.S.T.E. project
• Methodologies for real-time fault-tolerant systems
• Theoretical and empirical studies in software metrics
• Evaluation of alternatives to translation of C++ source code to Java. (M.S. Thesis of Tracy Hawwood Adewumi)

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