Collaborative Research: Expeditions in Computer Augmented Program Engineering (ExCAPE): Harnessing Synthesis for Software Design

协作研究：计算机增强程序工程探险 (ExCAPE)：利用综合进行软件设计

• 批准号: 1138860
• 负责人: Stephane Lafortune
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2018-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1138860&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Expeditions; Computer; Augmented

Computers have revolutionized our daily lives, and yet the way we program computers has changed little in the last several decades. Software development still remains a tedious and error-prone activity. ExCAPE aims to change programming from a purely manual task to one in which a programmer and an automated program synthesis tool collaborate to generate software that meets its specification. A distinguishing feature of the ExCAPE approach is that the program description can involve a wide range of artifacts that are best-suited to the particular development task: incomplete programs; declarative specifications of high-level requirements; positive and negative examples of desired behaviors; and optimization criteria for selecting among alternative implementations. This diversity is aimed at allowing a programmer flexibility to express insights through a variety of formats, leading to a more intuitive and less error-prone way of programming.The synthesis tool uses a range of computational approaches and developer interaction to compose these different views about the structure and functionality of the system into a unified, concrete implementation. The computational techniques include decision procedures for constraint-satisfaction problems; iterative schemes for abstraction and refinement; and data-driven learning. The methodology for programmer interaction moves verification from the back-end of the design cycle to the front-end, with the promise of a more reliable software product.To develop the theory and practice of the proposed paradigm, the ExCAPE team brings together expertise in theoretical foundations (computer-aided verification, control theory, program analysis), design methodology (human-computer interaction, model-based design, programming environments), and applications (concurrent programming, network protocols, robotics, system architecture). Research will focus on developing new computational engines for transformation and integration of synthesis artifacts, and effective methods for programmer interaction and feedback. While the benefits of the ExCAPE approach will apply broadly to software development, the ExCAPE team will focus its efforts by initially targeting four challenge problems: developing efficient concurrent data structures; developing protocols for on-chip interconnection networks; developing distributed routing network protocols; and end-user programming for autonomous robots. The ExCAPE approach will be a radical departure from the way these problems are solved today. For example, for the challenge problem on concurrent programming, the planned design tool will provide smart assistance for expert programmers to produce efficient and correct code, while the proposed tool for the robotics challenge problem will let end users program robots by demonstrating example behaviors. As ExCAPE aims to affect industrial practice, design tools for all four challenge problems will be developed and evaluated in close collaboration with industrial partners.The technology developed by ExCAPE also has the potential to revolutionize the way computing concepts are taught. Building on the core technology used in program synthesis, the ExCAPE team plans to develop smart tutoring software that can analyze students? answers for conceptual errors and generate additional problems tailored to that student.. This tutoring software will be developed for representative high-school and undergraduate courses and will be made widely available. This outreach effort is aimed at attracting more students to computing disciplines by promoting a new and more appealing vision of what it means to program. ExCAPE will also nurture an inter-disciplinary community of researchers in computer-augmented programming, via an annual workshop, a biannual summer school, and a competition for synthesis tools, with associated challenge problems and benchmarks.For more information visit http://excape.cis.upenn.edu

计算机已经彻底改变了我们的日常生活，但在过去的几十年里，我们对计算机编程的方式几乎没有改变。软件开发仍然是一个乏味和容易出错的活动。ExCAPE旨在将编程从纯手工任务转变为程序员和自动程序合成工具协作生成符合其规范的软件的任务。ExCAPE方法的一个显著特征是，程序描述可以涉及最适合特定开发任务的各种工件：不完整的程序;高级需求的声明性规范;所需行为的正面和负面示例;以及用于在备选实现中进行选择的优化标准。这种多样性旨在允许程序员灵活地通过各种格式表达见解，从而实现更直观、更少出错的编程方式。综合工具使用一系列计算方法和开发人员交互，将这些关于系统结构和功能的不同视图组合成统一的具体实现。计算技术包括约束满足问题的决策程序;抽象和细化的迭代方案;以及数据驱动的学习。程序员交互的方法论将验证从设计周期的后端移到前端，并承诺提供更可靠的软件产品。为了开发所提出的范例的理论和实践，ExCAPE团队汇集了理论基础方面的专业知识（计算机辅助验证、控制理论、程序分析）、设计方法学（人机交互、基于模型的设计、编程环境）和应用（并发编程、网络协议、机器人、系统架构）。研究将集中于开发新的计算引擎，用于合成工件的转换和集成，以及程序员交互和反馈的有效方法。虽然ExCAPE方法的好处将广泛应用于软件开发，但ExCAPE团队将集中精力，首先针对四个挑战性问题：开发高效的并发数据结构;开发片上互连网络协议;开发分布式路由网络协议;以及自主机器人的最终用户编程。ExCAPE方法将彻底偏离今天解决这些问题的方式。例如，对于并发编程的挑战问题，计划的设计工具将为专家程序员提供智能帮助，以生成有效和正确的代码，而机器人挑战问题的建议工具将让最终用户通过演示示例行为来编程机器人。由于ExCAPE旨在影响工业实践，因此将与工业合作伙伴密切合作，开发和评估所有四个挑战问题的设计工具。ExCAPE开发的技术也有可能彻底改变计算概念的教学方式。在程序合成中使用的核心技术的基础上，ExCAPE团队计划开发智能辅导软件，可以分析学生？答案的概念错误，并产生额外的问题，为学生量身定制。这一辅导软件将为具有代表性的高中和大学课程开发，并将广泛提供。这项推广工作的目的是通过推广一种新的、更有吸引力的编程理念来吸引更多的学生学习计算学科。ExCAPE还将通过一年一度的研讨会、一年两次的暑期学校以及合成工具竞赛以及相关的挑战问题和基准来培养计算机增强编程领域的跨学科研究人员社区。欲了解更多信息，请访问http://excape.cis.upenn.edu