Workshop on Institutionalizing Software Reuse (WISR'9)

Dear WISR'99 Participants,

Welcome to WISR9, the 9^th "Annual" Workshop on Software Reuse. Deriving its name (pronounced "wizzer") from the "Workshop on Institutionalizing Software Reuse," WISR has a tradition of bringing together the most qualified and enthusiastic contributors to the field of software reuse. This meeting follows that tradition, with many participants having established reputations for their worthy contributions to the research and/or practice of reuse.

WISR9 has intentionally reduced its size with the goal of increasing individual communication and interaction. To successfully reduce the program to a lively opening reception and two days of workshops, the WISR Steering Committee decided to limit attendance to 35-40 attendees. The shortened program also resulted in eliminating the traditional 3-minute stand-up self-introductions on the first day in favor of "getting to work." However, we maintained this Proceedings as a record of our gathering and, more importantly, to contain the stirring and controversial positions that will provide the fodder for intense and insightful debates both during and after our stay in Austin.

The focused nature of WISR9 meant that we could arrange the workshop with a more concentrated effort by a few dedicated volunteers. Please join me in thanking our host and program chair, Don Batory, who has worked very hard to make this a valuable meeting for everyone. Also, in what has become tradition, Larry Latour deserves our continued appreciation for maintaining the WISR WWW site and for once again producing this professional publication. Stephen Edwards helped with all the workshop organization, but especially publicity and Laurie Alvarez ensured that the local arrangements for WISR9 met all of our high expectations. Finally, we should thank the WISR Steering committee, which consists of all past WISR chairs, for giving its wisdom and moral support for this meeting and, indeed, keeping alive the spirit of coming together to solve our reuse problems.

I hope you read these position papers in the traditional spirit of WISR: to inspire thought, to test new ideas, and to generate an exchange of views with our colleagues and friends.

Jeffrey Poulin

General Chair

Jeffrey.Poulin@lmco.com

dsb@cs.utexas.edu

larry@gandalf.umcs.maine.edu

borders@cs.utexas.edu

Virginia Tech
edwards@vtopus.cs.vt.edu