intentional programming (IP)

Part of the TechTarget Network of Enterprise IT Web Sites

Search our IT-specific encyclopedia for:
 
Browse alphabetically:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
All Categories Programming

intentional programming (IP)

Intentional programming (IP), also called intentional software, is the rendering of application intentions in a form that can be processed by a computer. In this context, intentions consist of data defining the functions and purposes programmers have in mind as they conceive and develop an application. The term is associated with Intentional Software Corporation, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The IP concept originated with engineer Charles Simonyi when he worked for Microsoft .

The IP process begins when a programmer defines a proposed application's intended functions and purposes in WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format. Then an automated system uses this information to generate the final product. Successive changes are done at the WYSIWYG level using a system called a domain workbench.

Most programming languages represent source code as text and give symbolic names to object s, variable s or task s. In a complex program it can be difficult to keep track of which name refers to which entity. In IP, all entities are assigned unique private identifiers as well as symbolic names. Whenever the program refers to an object, variable or task, the identifier automatically generates a link to the original entity. If the programmer renames an entity, all references to it update at that moment. This reduces the risk of errors that can be caused by human oversight or by the manual use of the global search-and-replace function in a text editor . It also streamlines the process of versioning .



Read more about it at:
> Intentional Software Corporation maintains a Web site with news and a blog.
> C. Simonyi, M. Christerson and S. Clifford discuss the technical details of IP.
> J. Pontin describes the history of IP.
Last updated on: Mar 24, 2011

>  Enterprise Software related Research & News
>  White Papers for the Retail Industry

Are you a Know-IT-All?
What technology is solid-state lighting based on?
Answer

word of the day Sign up for the Word of the Day
twitter Follow us on Twitter


WORD OF THE DAY...
above the fold
LEARN MORE ABOUT...
Mobile Web design and testing
wear leveling
write amplification
write endurance
decision management
business process governance
Profile-Driven Storage
Resilient File System (ReFS)
Security, Trust and Assurance Registry (STAR)
Windows Server 8
community cloud
managed storage
facial recognition
Shared serial-attached SCSI (SAS)
open compute project
BIOS password
dynamic BPM (business process management)
social BPM (business process management)
in-circuit emulator (ICE)
above the fold
logic simulator
photometric stereo
dynamic case management (DCM)
raw device mapping (RDM)
WhatIs.com RSS Feeds
About Us   |   Contact Us   |   For Advertisers   |   For Business Partners   |   Reprints   |   RSS   |   Awards
TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Reprints




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2008, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts