The design, validation and evaluation of a software development environment

Abstract APE, an Animated Programming Environment, is an interactive, graphical, program design and development system, that embodies structured programming and top-down design. The system supports the development of programs for a variety of block structured languages whilst working conceptually at the level of Jackson diagrams. Formal methods are applied to validate and verify the implementation. We discuss some of our experiences in successfully applying formal methods to the APE system and outline the benefits of a similar approach to existing software in general. The evaluation of the system was based on responses to a questionnaire and a comparison with conventional methods of generating code. The results from the user trials, summarized in this paper, suggest that the APE system helps to produce standard quality products and reduces the dependence on the experience and ability of the practitioner.

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