WG211/M16Consel

Integrating Domain Experts in the Software Development Process via a DSL-Based Approach*

Charles Consel, Inria & Bordeaux Institute of Technology

Because computer programs pervade our daily activities, their development will and should increasingly involve domain experts with no Computer Science background. Ideally, these experts should be given domain-specific support to elaborate a solution to a given domain problem. This solution addresses their level of expertise and contributes to the design of a program. It should then be further refined, gradually integrating Computer Science concerns into the program design. Eventually, this design should guide and support the programming phase.

We propose to integrate domain expertise in the software development process via DSLs. In doing so, we aim to systematize knowledge transfer from outside Computer Science, via domain notations and concepts, and to guarantee that domain concerns are propagated throughout the entire process, via programming language-inspired tools.

This talk presents preliminary work toward introducing a DSL-driven approach to integrating domain experts in the software development process. This work is illustrated by a case study in assisted living services, where 1) an expert in aging can document situations needing assistance; 2) this input generates ingredients to guide the designer in specifying an assistive service; 3) finally, the resulting design specification guides the programmer to write the assistive service.

• Joint work with Nic Volanschi and Joan Rieu