This is Neuron Data's expert system development environment. This package's rich blend of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), an object oriented and rule-based expert system shell, and database interface tools can get your application off to a flying start.

By any of these criteria, knowledge-based systems technology is a smashing success. The combination of a storehouse of expertise (called a "knowledge base") and a reasoning mechanism ("inference engine") has generated

• research questions (What is the "best" way to represent knowledge? What are the most efficient algorithms for forward and backward chaining?)

• applications (in business, government, medicine, and a variety of other fields)

• controversies (Will knowledge-based systems create unemployment? What kinds of problems are these systems best suited for? Which knowledge acquisition technique yields the most expertise in the shortest time? What kinds of development tools do knowledge engineers need most? Does object orientation add power to the technology?

Once again, we focus on this highly successful technology. In our Feature Article, Christiana Creekpaum, Mary-Claire Carter, and William Gibson describe FAST Advisor, an expert system they built to handle the complexities of credit analysis. Dwayne Phillips explains the Dempster-Shafer Theory, a mechanism that enables knowledge-based systems to accumulate and evaluate evidence. Lisa Lewinson reports on the Arden Syntax, a formalism that represents medical knowledge.

Our Vendor's Forum presents Paul Haley, outspoken founder and President of The Haley Enterprise. Haley recounts the thought processes behind Rete++, an object oriented expert system development package that his organization produces. Scott Haggerty reviews SMART ELEMENTS, the full-featured development environment from Neuron Data. Judith Markowitz reviews Listen for Windows, a tool that endows Windows with the power to recognize spoken commands.

Every so often, an exciting new author appears on the scene -- someone whose message is so topical and informative that he or she must be heard. Terry Hengl is just such an author. When we read his "AI Information on Internet", we saw immediately that this kid has potential. So we decided to give him a shot at the big time. Of course, a quick look at the masthead (immediately to the left of here) will show you that Mr. Hengl does one or two other things for the magazine.

Joseph Schmuller