The CASE Boom: Decadence or Renaissance of Methodologies?

Introduction

The driving forces underlying the CASE industry are no different in nature from those behind other cases of computerization or automation --e.g. CAD/CAM/CAE in manufacturing, statistical packages in data analysis, and Artificial Intelligence-based systems. In all of these cases automation poses perilous problems as well as opening new possibilities to their respective fields. Wherever problems are resolved and possibilities seized, automation invariably effects a renaissance of methodologies. Therefore, a critical question facing both CASE users and developer is: What are the problems and possibilities?