A system for example-based programming

Abstract

We present an approach to programming environments that integrates syntax-directed editors with concepts borrowed from software reuse. We call our approach example-based programming , and we define it as programming using examples as visual aids or to fully or partially copy into programs. To implement an example-based programming environment, we augmented a syntax-directed editor with a window for example programs. The example programs, which are easily accessible, can be used as examples of language constructs, thus providing syntactic information through instantiations of templates, or as examples of algorithms or programs. The code in the example window can be viewed, totally or partially copied, or run. We discuss the motivation for example-based programming, describe our system implementing example-based programming in greater depth, and report on the results of an experiment to see how the system is used by programmers.