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Large Language Models (LLMs) are often framed as potential replacements for (semi-)automated software development tools supporting tasks such as bug fixing, refactoring, and code documentation. I don’t think we are quite there yet and it is not clear whether we will ever be. At the moment, I believe a more accurate way to see them is as baselines for these tools rather than direct substitutes. An…
TL;DR: The term “Open Source” should not be used to refer to LLMs, since these models are not open in a way that is coherent with the established meaning of open source software. I propose the use of the term PALE (Publicly Available, Locally Executable) LLMs. It arguably better communicates the intended meaning and is a nice sounding acronym. The idea to use the term Open source in the context of…
Last Friday I participated in my first SEN symposium , which gathers Software Engineering researchers from all across the Netherlands. I was one of the organizers, together with Gemma Catalino , Sebastian Junges , Jurgen Vinju , Tijs van der Storm , and Negar Alizadeh . The symposium had two keynotes and three invited speakers in diverse topics such as refactoring, code comprehension, security,…
This text is a summary of Chapter 5 of “ McKeachie ’s Teaching Tips “ . The title of the post is the title of the chapter. Discussion is the “prototypic teaching method” to promote active learning. Discussion is easier to conduct in smaller classes but it can also happen in larger ones. Research shows that having to explain how one thinks is effective in clarifying that thinking and helping one to…
This text is a summary of Chapter 6 of “ McKeachie ’s Teaching Tips “ . The title of the post is the title of the chapter. According to the author, “Effective lectures combined the talents of scholar, writer, producer, comedian, entertainment, and teacherEffective lectures combined the talents of scholar, writer, producer, comedian, entertainment, and teachers in ways that contribute to student…
This is a brief summary of the following paper: Sanghoon Park & Heoncheol Yun (2018): The Influence of Motivational Regulation Strategies on Online Students’ Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive Engagement . American Journal of Distance Education. 32(1), pp. 43-56. It studies the impact of eight motivational regulation strategies on three types of student engagement. Behavioral engagement concerns…
One important difference between Utrecht University and basically every university where I have worked or been a student at previously is the importance that it, as an institution, gives to the quality of the teaching. It shows this in a very practical way by requiring every professor, at every level, to have at least a Basic Teaching Qualification where, among other things, professors are…
I’ve read quite a few of Prof. Nancy Leveson’s papers on the assumption of independence between different versions made by developers of techniques that leverage design diversity, such as N-version programming and recovery blocks, when I was a PhD student. At the time, I also read some of her papers on Software and Systems Safety, the area where she’s one of the world’s most prominent experts.…
New Macs will use Apple-developed processors, not Intel. This new architecture has been named Apple silicon . Initial Developer Transition Kits (DTKs) are ready to be shipped to developers. They will pack the A12Z processor of the iPad Pro. Many apps are already being ported to leverage Apple silicon. Unity apparently has already been ported to run natively on Apple silicon and Microsoft’s Office…
Finally, after some four years of careful planning, two of them working as coordinator of CIn-UFPE ’s Computer Science undergraduate program (I mention this just because I did not enjoy it at all), I am taking my first sabbatical. I will be working for four months as a Visiting Professor at the research group of the great prof. Hidehiko Masuhara , at Tokyo Institute of Technology (東京工業大学). Here,…