automatic code generation

End-User Development (EUD) is a dynamic research area in computer science, focusing on empowering end-users to create and modify software through various approaches, constantly evolving with new methods and tools. To enhance end-user participation, research suggests developing user-friendly tools for end-users to design the UI, with the final source code derived from analyzing and automatically transforming this UI. Controlled natural language programming uses a limited version of a natural language for coding. This approach enhances programming accessibility by enabling end-users to code in a familiar language, maintaining the necessary precision and clarity. This research study the development of the CNUIML language and generation of an editor for it using Xtext. It delves into syntax error checking and target code generation using Xtext and Xtend. The CNUIML language is used to describe web application interfaces, focusing on system requirements and end-user concerns. Web applications consist of interconnected pages and forms, forming a tree of objects. Each application is a set of forms with specific value types and domains. In order to evaluate the usability of the designed tool, we have used a case study. This case study demonstrates the process of creating CNUIML models and generating the associated HTML codes using CNL2C.

The lack of qualified developers is the main reason for the shortage of software. One solution to overcome this problem is to leverage the end user for software development. Model-based approaches attempt to facilitate the involvement of the end user in the software development process. Various approaches have been explored to automatically transform the user interface model into the source code. However, the research community has focused less on describing the user interface with natural language. We used the MDA approach and the CAMELEON reference framework to develop a natural controlled modeling language (CNUIML) for modeling the user interface of web applications. The meta-model of the designed language is represented by the meta-meta-model and the grammar of the language is developed using EBNF. The usability of CNUIML has been evaluated through two case studies. The models described with this language are AUI-level models based on CRF and a PIM, based on the MDA approach. In this study, we have shown that the model designed with this language can be transformed into similar models such as task models or class diagrams using M2M. We have also discussed how the source code is obtained from the transformation of this model using M2T.