Expert system development methodologies in theory and practice

Results are presented of a survey of how commercial and government organizations are currently tackling key issues in expert system development. Recommendations made by methodology researchers are compared with the findings from a survey of over 30 organizations. The survey findings cover areas such as features of a successful application, project initiation activities, the overall life cycle, and the roles of prototyping, documentation, and the hardware and software environment. Lessons learned by survey respondents about methods and techniques which have proven particularly effective are included. A discussion of the differences between theory and practice centers around the role of prototyping in the life cycle, the documentation that is produced, and the amount of user interaction required