🚀 go-pugleaf

We're evaluating some ideas about how to get a software development
environment to behave more "intelligently," through enhancing its data
model and adding some inference/rule-processing capability to individual
tools and to the user shell.  One criterion in evaluating these ideas is
performance.

I need some info on how to estimate the performance of a hypothetical
rule-based / knowledge-based system.  I welcome pointers, references to
papers/books, or off-the-cuff remarks.

o Are there any books or papers which discuss how to design
  rule-based/knowledge-based systems such that the performance
  characteristics are good?

o What factors influence the performance of such a system?  (EG language
  choice, size of rule base, etc, etc?)

o What things are Really Bad Ideas -- a novice might think of trying it,
  but it would become really expensive?

o Where could I find a discussion of the algorithmic complexity of the
  various features provided by systems for rule-based programming?

Please reply by mail and I'll summarize if indicated.

Thanks!
						John Kimball

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disclaimer: I said *what*???