[Paper] Making Software Meaningful

Source: arXiv - 2606.11051v1

Overview

Adopting a single measure can improve the usability, modularity and accountability of software: a commitment to explicit meaning. This entails constructing and agreeing upon a representation of the behavior of the software, as observed in the domain of application. The phenomena comprising this behavior become a vocabulary that grounds all discourse about the software, among all stakeholders, and for all artifacts and activities. These phenomena are individuals; actions they participate in; and facts that result from actions. They can be organized, by partitioning the set of actions, into concepts, offering larger units of meaning. Examples of exploiting meaning are given in three areas: designing for usability (by aligning user and designer on a single shared meaning); generating modular code with LLMs (by mapping units of meaning to units of code, achieving not only modularity but also legibility); and making agents accountable (by having them adhere to a code of conduct that defines their intended behavior).

Key Contributions

This paper presents research in the following areas:

• cs.SE
• cs.HC

Methodology

Please refer to the full paper for detailed methodology.

Practical Implications

This research contributes to the advancement of cs.SE.

Authors

• Eagon Meng
• Abutalib Namazov
• Carmel Schare
• Alcino Cunha
• Daniel Jackson

Paper Information

• arXiv ID: 2606.11051v1
• Categories: cs.SE, cs.HC
• Published: June 9, 2026
• PDF: Download PDF