Automatic programming for end users: the TOAD system

An automatic programming system must embody not only a methodology for program synthesis, but also a formalism whereby problems can be specified by the user. The authors have designed TQ as a language for specifying programming problems and built a problem solver based on the methodology of classification problem solving. TQ is an informal specification language that allows a problem description to be written in nonprocedural terms by users who have no knowledge of programming. TOAD, the prototype system, demonstrates the feasibility and potential of the proposed approach and its suitability for end users. The authors compare their approach to those of other researchers in automatic programming and to the fourth generation languages