ITR: End-User Software Engineering

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AbstractThe objective is to improve the reliability of software produced byend-user programming languages in general, and by spreadsheetlanguages in particular. The approach is to address softwareengineering issues as an integrated whole in ways that incrementallyinteract with each other and with the user. For example, the systemwill notice the user's reactions to sample values she tests, and willthen suggest general principles about the spreadsheet, encouraging theuser to refine or modify the suggestions. This collaboration betweenthe system and user will incrementally generate formal specificationsas the spreadsheet evolves. These specifications can in turn be fedback to enhance reliability -- by automatically suggesting appropriatetest values, by helping locate faults, and by ensuring continuingconsistency with the specifications. The research involves threefacets: developing an interactive mechanism for user-systemcollaboration, developing algorithms for the system's part of thecollaboration, and conducting experiments to evaluate effectiveness.This is the first research attempting to bring fundamental softwareengineering principles to bear on end-user programming. Since the useof end-user-written programs and spreadsheets is very widespread andtheir lack of reliability is pervasive, improved reliability willimpact a potentially huge number of business and personal computerusers.