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ncreasingly, software engineers spend their time creating software families consisting of similar systems with many variations. While developers are pressed to build these families, they have no effective means for doing so. They are asked to create and reuse libraries of components but find those libraries costly to build and of limited value. They search for the right decomposition of their software into modules or classes, but have limited guidance in finding those decompositions, especially in the face of constraints on performance, reliability, and ease of use. Scope, commonality, and variability (SCV) analysis gives software engineers a systematic way of thinking about and identifying the product family they are creating. Among other things, it helps developers ♦ create a design that contributes to reuse and ease of change, ♦ predict how a design might fail or succeed as it evolves, and ♦ identify opportunities for automating the creation of family members.

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Distributing development over many sites, often in different countries, can cause productivityreducing coordination difficulties. This article introduces methods for assessing and minimizing coordination problems by identifying tightly coupled work items, or chunks, as candidates for independent development.

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Aims Topiramate has shown efficacy at facilitating abstinence from alcohol and cocaine abuse. This double-blind, placebo-controlled outpatient trial tested topiramate for treating methamphetamine addiction. Design Participants (N=140) were randomized to receive topiramate or placebo (13 weeks) in escalating doses from 50 mg/day to the target maintenance of 200 mg/day in weeks 6–12 (tapered in week 13). Medication was combined with weekly brief behavioral compliance enhancement treatment. Setting The trial was conducted at eight medical centers in the United States. Participants One hundred forty methamphetamine-dependent adults took part in the trial. Measurements The primary outcome was abstinence from methamphetamine during weeks 6 – 12. Secondary outcomes included use reduction versus baseline, as well as psychosocial variables. Findings In the intent-to-treat analysis, topiramate did not increase abstinence from methamphetamine during weeks 6–12. For secondary outcomes, topiramate reduced weekly median urine methamphetamine levels and observer-rated severity of dependence scores significantly. Subjects with negative urine before randomization (N=26) had significantly greater abstinence on topiramate versus placebo during study weeks 6–12. Topiramate was safe and well tolerated. Conclusions Topiramate does not appear to promote abstinence in methamphetamine users but can reduce the amount taken and reduce relapse rates in those who are already abstinent.