One of the most important approaches is called object-oriented programing where elements of the computer code function quite independently. A block of code can be designed to carry out a specific function such as estimating the state of a bioreactor. This block accepts inputs and produces outputs. Many such blocks can interact to form a highly complicated computer program even though each block is comparatively simple. Furthermore, blocks of code can be lifted out and used in other programs. We have the opportunity as good blocks become available to string them together. Writing an elaborate computer program may be just a matter of specifying the interconnections of these blocks.
One of the hot topics in computers today is object-oriented programing. While it springs from AI, it can be the basis for practically any kind of program or operating system. Although an object-oriented program may execute more slowly than an efficiently coded conventional program in most situations, this is seldom a fatal flaw because computers are speeding up. For AI, the object-oriented program can be fast becuase it matches the structure of the information that it processes. The overriding factor, however, is the conceptual power of object-oriented programing that opens new vistas for the programer and saves much time in software development.
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Last update: 7-Dec-94, comments to cockbd@rpi.edu and patand@rpi.edu