Technology and Tools for Software
Mission:
The Software Technology Center (STC) makes the software development process more productive and reduces the cost of maintaining and enhancing existing software. It does this by increasing expertise in all areas of modern software engineering technology and transferring appropriate advanced software development and maintenance technology into Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and other Department of Energy Laboratories.
Impact:
The STC increases the effectiveness of LLNL software users--chiefly, scientists, engineers, and administrators, and it improves software productivity, quality, safety, and reliability.
STC Goals
The STC's primary goals are to work at a highly technical level within the field of software engineering and to transfer appropriate state-of-the-art software processes, methods, and technologies into Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other Federal laboratories. The STC serves as a resource for solving problems for today's software professionals. At the STC, we:
- Establish a standard of excellence for the software process
- Provide technical leadership in the software process both internal and external to the Laboratory
- Improve software quality, reliability, safety, and software development and operation productivity
- Improve productivity of LLNL software users--chiefly scientists, engineers, and administrators
- Contribute to the improvement of U.S. software technology
- Accelerate the maturity of software engineering as a profession
Software Engineering
The broad scope of the STC supports software engineering for the Laboratory and for external customers. Software engineering is the process of applying coherent and well-defined engineering processes and procedures to the development and maintenance of software. The STC is a multi-function facility that supports the application of appropriate software engineering technologies. It:
- Disseminates information on the latest software technologies and tools via regularly scheduled software engineering seminars, a bimonthly newsletter, and demonstrations of software tools
- Facilitates the sharing of knowledge among software professionals
- Applies research results in software engineering topics such as safety, reliability, verification and validation techniques, and formal methods to LLNL projects
- Provides expertise in methods, technologies, and tools to LLNL and customer projects
Resource Center
The STC is a resource center that helps software professionals provide the most productive support to internal and external LLNL programs. It provides:
- A central facility for evaluation, beta testing, and vendor marketing of software tools
- A source of software engineering expertise
- A training and technology transfer center through which LLNL software professionals upgrade their knowledge and skills
- A repository of knowledge in state-of-the-art software engineering technology for application to large-scale scientific, engineering, and process control software
- An environment that nurtures and supports people who want to apply software engineering technology and tools on real problems
For existing software, the STC specializes in software engineering technology transfer, testing, reverse engineering, re-engineering, and design recovery. We help customers reverse and re-engineer existing software for further enhancement and reuse; re-engineer existing software for new platforms, languages, and operating systems; and develop expertise and tools for automating software design recovery.
For new software, the facility evaluates and beta-tests advanced CASE tools, and provides expertise in selecting and applying modern software engineering methods and defining software development processes.
Applications
The STC offers easy access to a variety of powerful software engineering tools. They are available over Open LabNet via a Sun SPARC2 in the joint Information Systems-Advanced Technology Center/Computation facility in Building 439. HP workstation-based and DEC workstation-based tools are also provided over Open LabNet. A classified service is available over Closed LabNet from a Sun SPARC10 located in the Livermore Computer Center.
We have specialized tools in the areas of:
- Forward engineering (CASE)
- Reverse/re-engineering
- Code analysis
- Testing
- Documentation
The STC consultants and staff can advise you on:
- Planning your software project
- Selecting and apply software methods
- Writing and analyzing requirements
- Designing and testing new codes
- Moderating walkthroughs and reviews
- Reverse and re-engineering your code
- Gaining access to CASE and reverse/re-engineering tools
The Software Technology Center--providing methods and tools to solve complex software problems.
STC Telephone Numbers
Programs, Projects, Centers, and Consortia
If you have technical questions about this page, please contact:
jeffyoung@llnl.gov -- Jeff Young
Last updated September 30, 1994.
LLNL Disclaimers
UCRL-TB-115070-18