Bringing robustness to end-user programming

Abstract

In some cases, end-user programming allows the design of stand-alone applications. But none of the existing approaches is concerned by safety aspects of programming. Heavy techniques exist to develop safe applications, particularly in non-interactive domains. They involve software engineering techniques, and sometimes, formal methods. All these techniques are very far from end-users. Our idea is to let this part to experts, and to connect end-user programming onto this safe conventional development. Starting from an existing functional core, we built an interactive end-user programming environment called GenBuild, which allows designing interactive stand-alone applications. GenBuild is composed of two distinct modules. The Generator is the first one. It is a specialized tool developed for a domain expert who sets out a safe functional core. The Builder is the second module. It is a purely interactive tool that allows an end-user to develop some complete interactive application among an existing functional core. It allows the verification of some properties that are a first step towards the development of safe end-user programming.