TI Scaling Up Rule-Based Development Environments 

LT CUCS-047-90 

OR COLUM 

YR 1990 

AU Naser S. Barghouti 

AU Gail E. Kaiser 

AV ftp cs.columbia.edu:pubreportsreports-1990cucs-047-90.ps.Z 

AB Rule-based development environments (RBDEs) model the software
development process in terms of rules that encapsulate
development activities, and execute forward and backward chaining
on the rules to provide assistance in carrying out the
development process. We investigate the scaling up of RBDEs along
two dimensions.  The first dimension covers the nature of the
assistance provided by the RBDE and the second spans the
functionality.  There is a spectrum of assistance models
implemented by RBDEs.  We consider three models:  pure
automation, strict consistency preservation, and a maximalist
assistance model that integrates consistency and automation.  The
choice of assistance model impacts the functionality of the RBDE,
more precisely the solutions to three problems that arise in
scaling up RBDEs: (1) multiple views; (2) evolution; and (3)
concurrency control. We explore the solutions to the three
problems with respect to each of the three assistance models. 
Throughout the paper, we use the Marvel RBDE asn example.