How Can Ontologies Contribute to Software Development?

The aim of this article is to discuss some directions in software development where using ontologies can lead to a considerable progress. The basic concepts related to ontologies are considered. It is shown that ontologies can be a basis for domain analysis and simulation in software development. Ontologies can be used for interactive design of objects such as dances, musical compositions, user interfaces, and so on. Also using ontologies can lead to considerable progress in forming knowledge bases, maintaining expert systems and developing optimizing compilers controlled by knowledge bases.