Research

Research into Ampersand focuses on automatically generating information systems, investigating a language suitable for designing such systems, and communication of designs between stakeholders with vastly different backgrounds. The research is documented on The Ampersand Project on Researchgate.

Publications

The following list gives an overview of publications by members of the Ampersand team.

In 2018 we published a paper that positions Ampersand as a reactive programming language:

Stef Joosten, Relation Algebra as programming language using the Ampersand compiler, Journal of Logical and Algebraic Methods in Programming, Volume 100, 2018, Pages 113-129, ISSN 2352-2208, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlamp.2018.04.002.

The following paper illustrates how to use Ampersand as a programming language.

Stef Joosten, Software Development in Relation Algebra with Ampersand, in: P. Höfner et al. (Eds.), RAMiCS 2017, International Conference on Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science, May 2017, LNCS 10226, pp. 177–192, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-57418-9_11.

The following blog posts some research results into Amperspiegel, which is an extensible language building on the Ampersand foundation.

Sebastiaan Joosten, Rule Based Information Systems Design, blog posted on 27 Nov 2017.

In 2015, we experimented with domain analysis, to obtain a different perspective on the Ampersand type system.

Joosten, S.M.M., Joosten, S.J.C. (2015). Type Checking by Domain Analysis in Ampersand. In: Kahl, W., Winter, M., Oliveira, J. (eds) Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science. RAMICS 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 9348, Pages pp 225–240, pub: Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24704-5_14.

In 2013, we published the book that is use in the course "Rule Based Design" at the Open University of the Netherlands.

Frank Grave, Rogier van de Wetering, Lloyd Rutledge, Strategy-IT alignment. Assuring alignment using a relation algebra method., in: Shishkov, B. (ed), Business Modeling and Software Design, Proceedings 8th International Symposium, BMSD 2018, Vienna, Austria, July 2-4, 2018, Springer, Cham, pp. 352-361, ISBN 9783319942131.

Lex Wedemeijer, Stef Joosten, and Jaap van der woude, Rule Based Design, Open Universiteit Nederland, January 2013, ISBN: 978 94 91825 90 3.

In 2011, we proved the soundness of the type system of Ampersand, which unlocked the Ampersand compiler for the public.

van der Woude, J., Joosten, S. (2011). Relational Heterogeneity Relaxed by Subtyping. In: de Swart, H. (eds) Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science. RAMICS 2011, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6663, pp 347–361, publ: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21070-9_25.

Gerard Michels built the first version of RAP in 2011.

Michels, G., Joosten, S., van der Woude, J., Joosten, S. (2011), Ampersand: Applying Relation Algebra in Practice, In: de Swart, H. (eds) Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science. RAMICS 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6663, pp 280–293, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21070-9_21.

Dit verhaal classificeert bedrijfsprocessen op drie manieren: actiegericht, zaakgericht en regelgericht.

Joosten, S., Bedrijfsregels, zin, onzin en een perspectief. Informatie, feb 2010, Elsevier, pp 44-48.

Joosten, R., Joosten, S. (2008). Automating Identity Management and Access Control. In: Fischer-Hübner, S., Duquenoy, P., Zuccato, A., Martucci, L. (eds) The Future of Identity in the Information Society. Privacy and Identity 2007. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 262. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79026-8_16.

Stef Joosten, Deriving Functional Specifations from Business Requirements with Ampersand, unpublished, nov 2007.

Stef Joosten, Rieks Joosten en Sebastiaan Joosten, Ampersand: foutvrije specificaties voor B&I-vraagstukken. Informatie, juli/aug 2007, Elsevier, pp 42-50.

Stef Joosten and Rieks Joosten, Specifying business processes by means of rules, Proceedings of the European Business Rules Conference EBRC 2005, June 2005.

Stef Joosten, Rekenen met Taal. Informatie, juni 2000, Elsevier.

Results

The application RAP was built as an educational tool, and developed further into a tool in which anyone can build and run their own prototypes.

The project has contributed to the development of applications in relation algebra, which has lead to numerous publications in the International Conference of Relation Algebraic Methods in Computer Science.

Numerous students at the Open Universiteit have graduated in the context of Ampersand.

TNO has built ten information systems in production with Ampersand, of which SETU is an example.

Several hundreds of students have completed the course Rule Based Design at the Open Universiteit.

The Open Universiteit has published a book, Rule Based Design, as open educational content. This book has had 20.000 reads on Researchgate.