Software that tries to build up a view of the world by asking questions and using the answers to navigate a tree of knowledge.  I think...

'Nother way to think about it:  a programming style that
emphasizes a "knowledge base" and "inference engine" which
acts on that base.  Forward and backward (inferential) chaining
are typical components.

[CLIPS] is an open-source expert-system development environment
in widespread use.

[[ [Arjen Markus] is working on a [Tcl]-coded ES in 2003.]]

Naive enthusiasts for ESs ([CL] does ''not'' regard AM as among these) underestimate, sometimes grossly,
the importance and difficulty of validation of rule sets.  A good ES development system must have powerful
[introspection] capabilities, specifically the opportunity to ask the system how it reached a particular conclusion.



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