A knowledge-based prototyping environment for construction of scientific modeling software

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, scientific software models have played an increasingly prominent role in the conduct of science. Unfortunately, scientific models can be difficult and time-consuming to implement, and there is little software engineering support specifically available for constructing scientific models. Because these models are not easily specified to scientifically-naive programmers, and because the scientist requires intimate knowledge of the code to conduct experiments, many scientists implement their own models. This coding activity takes valuable time away from their primary scientific mission. We have developed a knowledge-based software development tool that assists scientists in prototyping scientific models. With a specialized graphical user interface, the scientist constructs a high-level visual specification that captures the essential computational dependencies in the desired model. The system uses its scientific domain knowledge to ensure that the model being built is consistent and coherent. The final product is an executable prototype of a scientific model. Our tool accelerates the model-building process and eliminates the scientist's need to program in a formal language. Furthermore, the models developed with this tool are easier to understand and reuse than typical low-level scientific modeling code. At present, models developed with our system are restricted to those involving non-coupled algebraic and first order ordinary differential equations. Research is ongoing to lessen this restriction and support models with simultaneous equations.