Software engineering of collaborative systems

计算机越来越多地用于帮助人们进行协作。电子邮件已经变得无处不在，并且现在由移动的电话上的即时消息和短消息服务（SMS）等技术补充。Wiki允许协作创建网站，支持协作项目。电子会议系统已经成为协同定位会议的流行替代方案，允许人们在真实的时间内匡威和共享文档。现代个人数字助理已经模糊了电话和计算机之间的界限，支持电子邮件、议程更新、短信和语音功能的无线连接。现代在线游戏允许成千上万的人在共享的持久环境中进行真实的交互。像这样的工具很难建立。它们需要简单而强大的用户界面，使人们能够像面对面一样有效地进行协作。与此同时，协作系统是建立在互联网之上的，因此会受到互联网速度不足和运行不可靠的影响。

Computers are increasingly used to help people to collaborate. Email has become ubiquitous, and is now complemented by technologies such as instant messaging and short message service (SMS) on mobile phones. Wikis allow collaborative creation of web sites, supporting collaborative projects. Electronic meeting systems have become a popular alternative to co-located meetings, allowing people to converse and share documents in real time. Modern personal digital assistants have blurred the line between telephone and computer, supporting wireless connectivity for email, agenda updates, SMS and voice functions. Modern online games allow thousands of people to interact in real time in a shared persistent environment. Tools such as these are difficult to build. They require simple yet powerful user interfaces that allow people to collaborate as effectively as when they meet in person. At the same time, collaborative systems are built on top of the Internet, and therefore suffer the consequences of its inadequate speed and unreliable operation.