Intellectual Property
Adapt is based upon a number of significant innovations each of which is powerful in its own right but when combined together achieves a much higher level of improvement over conventional software development technologies than each could individually.
Truly adaptive application development can only be achieved by such a fundamentally new approach and this fact can be seen from the very many 'false starts' that have been attempted over the years in order to try to make software development easier and more productive.
For several decades now most software development has been undertaken using primarily third-generation languages (3GLs) which were first designed in the 1950s and 60s. The currently most popular languages such as Java and C++ etc were designed more recently but remain basically third-generation.
Subsequently, many attempts were made to develop fourth-generation languages (4GLs) and whilst these were successful in some areas their use has remained fairly limited. There are a variety of such tools but they tended to rely on the fact that the requirements for many applications are very similar. This means that by offering a standard set of built-in features that may be selected as required by the designer and then customised to some extent they enabled some applications to be developed at low cost and more reliably. The problem is that when the application requires a feature that wasn't offered by the tool designer then it either cannot be implemented or may only be added by a complicated process that affects costs and future maintainability.
During the 80s and 90s efforts were put into what became known as fifth-generation languages (5GLs) but again these became used primarily in niche areas without achieving a general step forward. In fact, these technologies have come to be seen by many as a 'dead-end' in terms of general software development and have not been widely used.
In the twenty-first century, 4GL systems have emerged as "low code" environments or platforms for the problem of rapid application development in short periods of time. Vendors often provide sample systems such as CRM, and contract management which can then be customised to a degree to meet a specific need.
In recent years the focus has shifted back to the endless invention of 'new' third-generation languages in almost desperate attempts to make some real progress at last. This link Programming Language Rankings (Wired.com) gives an indication of the large number of languages currently employed.
During the late 80s and 90s, the rise of the Internet brought about the widespread use of markup languages such as HTML and XML (Markup Languages). These languages were excellent at rendering the contents of the pages at static websites but when the need for sites to behave more like interactive apps then their lack of logical ability meant that they had to be supplemented by 3GLs such as Java to achieve the functionality desired. The result is that the development of bespoke websites is a very complicated and skilled process which leads to high costs and low productivity. Some web-based tools (akin to 4GLs) make the development of straightforward websites easier by allowing the selection of the features required from a built-in set. However, the same limitations tend to apply in that the application is limited to the set of features that the tool designer decided may be needed and the possible amount of customisation is always restricted.
In parallel with the widespread proliferation of so many different programming languages, improvements were achieved by the invention of generic tools such as spreadsheets and general-purpose databases. These did enable many users to develop their own simple applications without requiring programming skills and high levels of expertise. Such tools were a real step forwards and allowed many applications to be developed at lower cost and more reliably than before. In addition, they often allowed users to develop their own applications to fulfil a need they understood well rather than having to rely on programmers who might not fully comprehend the requirement for the application. However, the nature of these tools meant that it is generally difficult to employ them for anything other than fairly basic tasks. As the complexity of the task increases then some form of programming ability is required and the benefits of using such generic tools are to some degree nullified.
So, after several decades of effort by many people and organisations and the invention of hundreds of programming languages and tools, software development remains a hugely expensive and unreliable exercise. Many development projects are never completed, are scrapped, or do not provide the facilities that are required. Those that are completed are often difficult to maintain and modify as requirements change leading to unnecessary costs/reliability problems.
Even today, most application developments still rely on 3GLs and the problems associated with the use of such languages are outlined in more depth in Software Development
The following pages specifically identify a number of the innovative design features within Adapt that together overcome many of the problems involved in software development: