The Grand Aim of Automatic Programming

This contributes to the so-called software crisis, which has been haunting commercial software production for over two decades now. A common symptom is the inability to deliver correct programs on time and to budget. Growing needs for more and more complex software have made the crisis outpace the academic results, known as software engineering, for dealing with it. 

Actually, a classification of problems is needed for further clarification. On the one hand, thdfe are data-processing problems, where the specification is almost tantamount to an actual program. On the other hand, there are algorithmic problems, where the specification is at best some kind of a naive (inefficient) program. The focus in this 

Let s perceive, in a first approximation, the actual programming task of the software lifecycle as being divided into two stages  

Moreover, specifications are sometimes perceived to be incorrect, and they need thus to be changed. And specifications sometimes evolve over time, as the intentions change. A fourth stage is then added  

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