Embedding languages within design environments

摘要

Large-scale computer applications reflect numerous sources of complexity: complexity originating in the constructs of the application domain, complexity of feature-rich interfaces, and (in many cases) complexity arising from the inclusion of enduser programming environments. The paper discusses a software design strategy for the creation of programmable design environments (PDEs); such environments are geared toward alleviating, for users, the negative effects of various sources of complexity. The paper illustrates this notion of PDEs with a description of a charting/graphing application named SchemeChart.