Reuse of cliches in the knowledge-based editor

Abstract

The Knowledge-Based Editor in Emacs (KBEmacs) is the current demonstration system implemented as part of the Programmer's Apprentice project. The purpose of the system is to experiment with a number of AI-based programming support capabilities. It is expected that most of these capabilities will appear in one form or another in the programming environments of the future.

The most important of these capabilities is the reuse of cliches — i.e., the reuse of stereotyped algorithms and other pieces of programming knowledge. Using KBEmacs, a programmer can build up a program rapidly and reliably by selecting various standard algorithms and combining them together. Other key features of KBEmacs include a semantic, as opposed to syntactic, representation for programs and support for an assistant-like interaction between the system and the user.

This work was supported in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-80-C-0505, in part by National Science Foundation grants MCS-7912179 and MCS-8117633, and in part by the International Business Machines Corporation.