Hypertext for Software Engineering

Abstract

What is the power of hypertext in supporting software engineering? (The term “hypertext” is treated throughout as synonymous with “hypermedia,” which denotes the nonlinear representation of interrelated textual, graphic, filmic, or auditory information.) Power in other contexts usually refers to the ability of some entity or agent to affect the behavior of another or to achieve advantage over another in ways that the other cannot avoid. Following this, one might expect that as a technology , hypertext systems offer relative advantage over alternatives to automated text/document information systems, including conventional word processing systems, file systems, and database management systems. Hypertext systems offer a degree of information processing power that enables new kinds of applications, much like the advent of expert system shells enabled the creation of expert applications for domains such as computer configuration and diagnostic pathology. Similarly, as a medium for writing and reading electronic documents hypertext systems allow the redefinition of the structure and content of documents that alter the constraints and opportunities for conveying information in contrast to the linear print medium. Thus the power of hypertext in whatever form it exists is subtle and incremental; it is potential rather than kinetic. However, such power can accumulate in different application domains in the long run if effectively mobilized and integrated with domain‐specific tasks, processing mechanisms, and workflows. The power of hypertext technology in different application domains can be realized in a number of ways. In particular, technology that supports a unified view of the hypertext documents, production processes, processing mechanisms, and settings of use appears to offer the greatest power at this time. To see this, the concept of a domain‐specific hypertext environment (DSHE) is defined in the following section. Next, the domain of software production is examined in order to identify how hypertext tools and document production/consumption techniques can play a role to facilitate software engineering objectives. The focus then shifts to describe the structure of information to evolve within a DSHE in terms of product, task, and setting information for the domain of software production. Together, these sections then set the final stage for a discussion of the power of DSHE. Subsequently, seven ways the power of DSHE can be realized are identified, followed by an examination of the costs that are borne in order to realize this power.