Case-Based Knowledge Management Tools for Software Development

Modern software development is a knowledge-intensive activity. The proliferation of development tools, rapidly changing technology, and increasing complexity and diversity of application domains all increase the cognitive burden placed on software developers. General purpose programming languages and CASE tools offer little relief from these problems. Knowledge management tools are needed that can effectively capture and disseminate software development knowledge that applies to the domain-specific needs of an organization. This knowledge is not static, but evolves with technology and the changing needs of the organization's development practices, customer base, and business milieu. This paper presents an infrastructure that supports evolving knowledge through case-based techniques and domain analysis methods that capture emerging knowledge and synthesize it into generally applicable forms. The approach is less concerned with the veracity of knowledge in its repository than evolving the knowledge toward answers to problems that fit the organization's technical and business context. Implications of this approach go beyond supporting software development to other knowledge-intensive professions where knowledge management tools can be used to support an organizational memory.