An overview of the development principles, stages and building blocks of Expert System

Abstract

Expert Systems are not suited for all types of problems. Many developers actively seek problems pliable to Expert System solution or tried to solve all problems encountered using Expert System. Experience has also shown that developers’ attention has become more focused on the problems to be solved rather than on the solution techniques. Little or no attention is paid to development details. This paper presents the development issues; the system engineering techniques and tools; the systematic fashion in the development much like the systems methodology and model development steps; prototype documentation; cyclic development life cycle and the building blocks of Expert System. The study is expected to serve as a template and reference material for upcoming researchers in Expert System development in order to concentrate on solution techniques rather than the problem to be solved, and pay adequate attention to development details. This will ensure that the exact methodology used and quality software is developed to meet users’ needs.

Keywords: Expert System, Knowledge Engineer, Domain Expert, Prototyping.