Systems Engineering (was Re: Open source? -> Need to read source to model?)

[James Odell]

At 03:54 PM 1/18/00 -0700, Benedikt wrote:
>This is also my experience from trying to implement the 'domain specialist
>+ programmer' paradigm: It doesn't work that well. Eventually, either the
>domain specialist has to roll up his sleeves and dig into code or the
>programmer has to become a de facto domain specialist.
>
>It seems to me that this is the nature of the beast, although I'd sure hope 
>to be proven wrong sometime in the not to distant future when someone comes 
>up with a way to program computers without programming.


Hmmm.  In my experience over the last 20 years of developing small to very 
large-scale systems, I don't find that this has to occur.  In fact, I find 
that the "'domain specialist + programmer' paradigm" works quite 
successfully--if you have a good way of expressing domain specialist's 
requirements to the programmer.  Such languages (usually graphical) do exist 
and are in common use.  Small systems whose details can fit into one (maybe 
two) person's heads don't really need this.  Beyond that, expressing the 
domain specialist's requirements (usually as a model) is an absolute 
requirement.  In fact I find that in medium to large systems, 49 out of 50 
*will* fail to deliver successfully without modelling the domain specialist's 
requirements in a way where: 
1) The business expert is using the agent-based modelling techniques that 
adequately express her/his requirements, and
2) the programmer can turn these models into programs, simulations, and/or 
prototypes that correctly reflect the domain specialist's requirements.  


There are literally thousands of people that are developing small to very 
large-scale systems small to very large-scale systems using this approach.  
And there are dozens of languages (mostly graphical) from which to choose.  
Currently, I am working with two agents standards groups to develop a set of 
useful modeling languages for agents and agent-based systems.  These languages
are being used successfully by people developing medium-scale agent-based 
systems--even as we speak.  So, keep the faith: help is on its way. :-)


Jim Odell
www.jamesodell.com 


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