Software engineering environments

There is considerable activity in the field of software engineering environments (SEEs). Most of this work assumes an architecture consisting of a number of software tools running on a kernel with a well-defined public tool interface (PTI). The background to current work in SEEs is outlined, and the current trend toward systems engineering environments is noted. The kernel approach is scrutinized as a possible architecture for such environments and found to be adequate only in the short term. A glimpse is given of an alternative approach