The problem of automatically improving the performance of computer programs has many facets. A common source of program inefficiency is the use of abstraction techniques in program design: general tools used in a specific ...

EYE is a program (on the Vision System tape with the name EYE BALL) which displays on the 340 field of view of the vidisector. The program is controlled by the light pen, which selects various modes and options; and by the ...

This paper describes the design and implementation of a program testing assistant which aids a programmer in the definition, execution, and modification of test cases during incremental program development. The testing ...

A program called LPTSEE has been written for use with the MIT vision system. LPTSEE makes use of the overprint capability of the line printer to allow the user to output a stored picture image.

Essentially all program translators (both source-to-source translators and compilers) operate via transliteration and refinement. This approach is fundamentally limited in the quality of the output it can produce. In ...

We propose research into automatic program understanding via recognition of common data structures and algorithms (clichés). Our goals are two-fold: first, to develop a theory of program structure which makes such recognition ...

Current fashion in "user-friendly'' software design tends to place an overreliance on direct manipulation interfaces. To be truly expressive (and thus truly user-friendly), applications need both learnable interfaces ...

In this thesis I present a language for instructing a sheet of identically-programmed, flexible, autonomous agents (``cells'') to assemble themselves into a predetermined global shape, using local interactions. The ...

The goal of the Programmer's Apprentice project is to develop a theory of how expert programmers analyze, synthesize, modify, explain, specify, verify, and document programs. This research goal overlaps both artificial ...

A scenario is used to illustrate the capabilities of a proposed Design Apprentice, focussing on the area of detailed, low-level design. Given a specification, the Design Apprentice will be able to make many of the ...

This memo describes PROGRAMMER, a parser for natural language. It consists of a language for writing grammars in the form of programs, and an interpreter which can use these grammars to parse sentence. PROGRAMMER is ...

In many sensor network applications, the network is deployedto approximate a physical space. The network itself is not ofinterest: rather, we are interested in measuring the propertiesof the space it fills, and of establishing ...

Amorphous computing considers the problem of controllingmillions of spatially distributed unreliable devices which communicateonly with nearby neighbors. To program such a system, we need a highleveldescription language ...

The programmer's apprentice (PA) is an automated program development tool. The PA depends upon a library of common algorithms (cliches) as the source of its knowledge about programming. The PA can be made more usable if ...

Many programming domains involve the manipulation of values distributed through a manifold - examples include sensor networks, smart materials, and biofilms. This paper describes a programming semantics for manifolds based ...

It is profitable to view the process of writing programs as an engineering activity. A program is a deliberately contrived mechanism constructed from parts whose behaviors are combined to produce the behavior of the ...

The VIRGIN program will interpret pictures of simple scenes. This paper describes a program, SINNER, which will deal with picture which contain cracks and shadows. In addition to handling pictures of this richer world, ...

The Vision Flashes are informal working papers intended primarily to stimulate internal interaction among participants in the A.I. Laboratory's Vision and Robotics group. Many of them report highly tentative conclusions ...

This paper reports on research being conducted on a computer assistant, called PAL. PAL is being designed to arrange various kinds of events with concern for the who, what, when, where and why of that event. The goal ...

We propose a vision of the structure of knowledge and processes of learning based upon the particularity of experience. Highly specific cognitive structures are constructed through activities in limited domains of ...