Web sites have moved from supplementary mechanisms for communication to become a primary component of most organization’s infrastructure. Rather than serving simply as a passive means of disseminating information, Web sites have become the integration hub for a wide variety of activities, including electronic commerce, streaming media, and online collaboration.

With “older” Web sites now just passing five years on the Net, it seems prudent to examine how they can evolve in a more disciplined manner. As Web sites age, they suffer from some of the same afflictions as any complex software system: their structure degrades, maintenance becomes increasingly problematic, and legacy applications and interfaces hinder evolution. However, Web sites are also unique in several aspects. For example, they are often developed by people who may lack a formal computer science or software engineering background.

WSE’99 will provide a forum for the presentation of exciting new research and empirical results in areas including (but not limited to):

•  Managing an evolving 3-tier information system
•  Using Web tools for overall system understanding
•  Leveraging traditional program analysis tools
•  Integrating dynamic and static content
•  Investigating emerging technologies, such as Dynamic HTML, E-Commerce, and XML

Copyright © 1999 Scott Tilley

Last edited June 21, 2001