Case-based reuse of software examplets

We present a software tool for examplet reuse. We define examplets to be goal-directed snippets of source code, often written for tutorial purposes, that show how to use program library facilities to achieve some task. Our tool allows users to specify both their goal (in free text) and their 'situation' (the source code on which they are working). The system combines text retrieval and spreading activation through a semantic net representation of the source code.