LANGUAGE BASED SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS

THE SYNTHESIZER GENERATOR IS A WELL-KNOWN AND HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PROTOTYPE SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LANGUAGE-BASED SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS. IT IS CURRENTLY LICENSED FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES TO OVER 230 SITES WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING NUMEROUS DOD CONTRACTS AND LABORATORIES, WHERE IT IS BEING USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS FOR A MULTITUDE OF BOTH NEW AND EXISTING LANGUAGES. IT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF SEVERAL BOOKS AND NUMEROUS PH.D. THESES. IT CONTINUES TO SERVE RESEARCHERS AS A TESTBED IN WHICH TO STUDY NEW IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES FOR SUCH SYSTEMS. SOFTWARE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS ARE OF ENORMOUS ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE TO BOTH DOD AND THE COMMERCIAL WORLD. THE POTENTIAL OF THE SYNTHESIZER GENERATOR TO IMPLEMENT SUCH SYSTEMS HAS BEEN AMPLY DEMONSTRATED BY ITS PROTOTYPE USE. BUT ITS IMPLEMENTATION WAS GUIDED BY RESEARCH, NOT BUSINESS, CONSIDERATIONS. ALTHOUGH THE SYNTHESIZER GENERATOR IS NOT CURRENTLY A FULLY-ENGINEERED COMMERCIAL PRODUCT, WE BELIEVE IT TO BE AN EXCELLENT BASIS FOR ONE. FUNDS ARE REQUESTED FOR A DETAILED ENGINEERING STUDY TO (1) SPECIFY THE FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF A PROPOSED SYNTHESIZER GENERATOR PRODUCT, (2) DESIGN THE IMPLEMENTATIONSAND/OR CHARACTERIZE THE RESEARCH NEEDED TO MEET THOSE REQUIREMENTS, AND (3) ESTIMATE THE COST AND OUTLINE A REALISTIC SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETING SUCH A PROJECT.