Selection of the Optimal Software for Designing Expert Systems

Abstract

This article deals with the problems of information processing, searching and finding the solutions in the related fields of scientific knowledge. One of the solutions to this kind of problem is the software like expert systems. The aim of the article is to test the existing software tools for constructing expert systems, to make the assessment of the existing feature set, to determine the set of criteria that influences on the selection of software, to analyze the possible ways of using it regarding to structuring, storing, searching and changing of the accumulating knowledge bases. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of existing expert system shells. As a result of the analysis, the lifecycle phase of the expert system are considered, the basic criteria are selected for each phase. Focusing on the most popular criteria, the best software for constructing the expert system is selected. A prototype of the expert system was developed in the selected shells. The complexity of the prototype development is estimated. The shortcomings of the software are identified. The analysis parameters are summarized in a comparative table. The best shell for the construction of expert systems is selected considering the selected criteria.

Keywords

• expert system
• production system
• ES shells
• analysis