THE ROLE OF PROTOTYPING LANGUAGES IN CASE

Prototyping languages form a new category in the computer language family. They are different from the commonly familiar computer languages because they are used to support a higher level of automation at early phases of software development as well as throughout the entire process. They are used to create mechanically processable and executable descriptions or models of proposed software systems. Prototyping languages are also used to firm up requirements via frequent modifications and demonstrations of the models in an iterative process of prototype evolution. The benefits of a prototyping language are fully realized when it is used with its computer-aided prototyping system (CAPS). In this paper, we describe the background, requirements, characteristics, computational features, and general principles for the design of prototyping languages. An example of a prototyping language design is used to illustrate these concepts.