1987 Reports

A Survey of Automated Consulting in Interactive Programming Environments

Wolz, Ursula

This paper surveys the Computer Science Literature on consulting in interactive programming environments. Three types of consulting behavior are described: systems that provide relief from mundane detail; systems that provide information; and systems that tutor new skills. Two themes run through research on all three types of systems. First, a distinction is drawn between an expert and a novice user. Most systems are geared for one or the other but not both. Second, current research on all three types indicates a need for taking users' goals into account Systems must include consulting behavior that goes beyond the surface or syntactic level.