Domain-Specific Automatic Programming

Domain knowledge is crucial to an automatic programming system and the interaction between domain knowledge and programming at the current time. The NIX project at Schlumberger-Doll Research has been investigating this issue in the context of two application domains related to oil well logging. Based on these experiments we have developed a framework for domain-specific automatic programming. Within the framework, programming is modeled in terms of two activities, formalization and implementation, each of which transforms descriptions of the program as it proceeds through intermediate states of development. The activities and transformations may be used to characterize the interaction of programming knowledge and domain knowledge in an automatic programming system.