Automatic Analysis of the Logical Structure of Programs

Abstract : This report presents a method for viewing complex programs as built up out of simpler ones. The central idea is that typical programs are built up in a small number of stereotyped ways. The method is designed to make it easier for an automatic system to work with programs. It focuses on how the primitive operations performed by a program are combined together in order to produce the actions of the program as a whole. It does not address the issue of how complex data structures are built up from simpler ones, nor the relationships between data structures and the operations performed on them. The plan building methods (PBMs) and the automatic analysis system presented in this report have been developed as part of a larger research project. The goal of this project is to develop a system, called a Programmer's Apprentice (PA), which can assist a person who is writing a program. The purpose of the PA is to make the construction, maintenance, and modification of programs easier and more reliable. The PA is intended to be midway between an improved programming methodology which facilitates good programming style, and an automatic programming system. The intention is that the PA and a programmer will work together throughout all phases of the development and maintenance of a program. The programmer will do the hard parts of design and implementation while the PA will act as a junior partner and critic keeping track of all the details and assisting the programmer wherever possible.