040coders.nl: Talks and Videos. Food and Drinks. Every 3rd Thursday somewhere in the 040 region. 040coders.nl: Talks and Videos. Food and Drinks. Every 3rd Thursday somewhere in the 040 region.



User Interactions and their impact on DSL Design:

An interactive case study for Radiation Oncology Workflow


Talk

Frank van der Kruijssen By: Frank van der Kruijssen
From: ICT Group

Talk at Meetup 20200416


Abstract

The complexity of software intensive systems is increasing, directly impacting development efficiency. Model-Driven Engineering technologies help increasing efficiency by raising the level of abstraction. Domain-Specific Languages as an integral part of Model-Driven Engineering support the description of different facets of the problem domain in a clean and concise way.

During the development of a workflow and data management system for radiation oncology, we experienced that the interaction between the user and the system engineer is crucial to prevent foreign domain aspects from creeping into the Domain-Specific Language. These extra-domain aspects introduce unnecessary complexity. To address this challenge, we used Domain-Driven Design methods. These methods helped keeping the Domain-Specific Language concise which resulted in an efficient software development effort.


Biography

Frank van der Kruijssen has a background in Electrical Engineering, University of Technology, Eindhoven. After his graduation he started working in high-tech industry for ICT Group as a software engineer. He does secondment, consultancy and projects for many companies, in areas ranging from consumer electronics through machine-building industry to medical systems.

Since 2006 Frank has worked in the role of System Architect. In this role, he likes the aspect of creating the optimal system for all stakeholders. This means working with professionals from different disciplines, from mechanical engineers to business managers. His passion is to create software that resolves difficult problems in an easy way by reducing complexity from the start. He also teaches and coaches colleagues in the field of system architecting.

Since 2013 Frank has worked in a team at ICT Group that creates a system that manages data and workflow for the radiotherapy department of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, USA. This system functions as the cortex of the new proton therapy system and integrates the modalities that are involved in the preparation and radiation workflows. In February 2020, the new proton system including the software from ICT Group went live in the clinic, thereby replacing the old system.



contact: organizers at 040coders.nl
contact: organizers at 040coders.nl