A ten year evaluation of an atypical software environment

An evaluation is given of an atypical software environment that provides comprehensive automated support throughout all phases of the life-cycle. The environment has been operational for a decade (1981-91); it has been used to implement and maintain a variety of large and complex systems. The author establishes three criteria for examining atypical environments: the ability to support the process tasks, the ability to support large-scale projects and the ability to improve productivity. Four characterising measures for appraising an environment´s impact on productivity are identified, and the software environment is evaluated with respect to these criteria