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Programming by Demonstration

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Encyclopedia of Machine Learning

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Synonyms

Programming by example

Definition

Programming by demonstration (PBD) describes a collection of approaches for the support of end-user programming with the goal of making the power of computers fully accessible to all users. The general objective is to teachcomputer systems new behavior by demonstrating (repetitive) actions on concrete examples. A user provides examples of how a program should operate, either by demonstrating trace steps or by showing examples of the inputs and outputs, and the system infers a generalized program that achieves those examples and can be applied to new examples. Typical areas of application are macro generation (e.g., for text editing), simple arithmetic functions in spreadsheets, simple shell programs, XML transformations, or query-replace commands, as well as the generation of helper programs for web agents, geographic information systems, or computer-aided design. The most challenging approach to PBD is to obtain generalizable examples by...

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Recommended Reading

  • Cypher, A. (1993a). Programming repetitive tasks by demonstration. In A. Cypher (Ed.), Watch what I do: Programming by demonstration (pp. 205–217). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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  • Cypher A. (Ed.) (1993b). Watch what I do: Programming by demonstration. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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  • Lieberman, H. (Ed.) (2001). Your wish is my command: Programming by example. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sabancı University, Orhanlı, Tuzla, Turkey

    Pierre Flener & Ute Schmid

Authors
  1. Pierre Flener
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  2. Ute Schmid
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2052

    Claude Sammut

  2. Faculty of Information Technology, Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University, P.O. Box 63, Victoria, Australia, 3800

    Geoffrey I. Webb

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Flener, P., Schmid, U. (2011). Programming by Demonstration. In: Sammut, C., Webb, G.I. (eds) Encyclopedia of Machine Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30164-8_673

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