Importance of Expert System Shell in Development of Expert System

The expert system shell simplifies the process of creating an expert system in a faster, cheaper and more efficient way. A single expert system shell can be used to build a number of different expert systems. Information provided by the user is analyzed by the shell with the help of knowledge base before reaching to a particular conclusion. Depending upon requirement, knowledge engineer feeds domain specific knowledge in the knowledge base. For example – if the knowledge engineer feeds, expert level knowledge of ‘diagnosis of Papaya plant’ then the tool will behave as an expert system for diagnosis of Papaya plant. Thus an expert system shell creates an easy environment for developing expert system. This paper presents the basic concept & functions of Expert System Shells with the aim of highlighting their merits and demerits. This paper also depicts different types of shells along with their functionalities.