User interface development tools do not adequately facilitate the development of interactive applications. Although building applications with UIMSs and interactive UI builders is easier than building without them, it isn't easy enough. An alternative approach to application development is represented by spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets are, however, restricted in the sorts of applications they support.
Each ACE application is based upon a framework that provides much of the application semantics and user interface pre-built. Applications remain modifiable and specializable after they are in use. Unlike spreadsheets, ACE provides frameworks other than tables, e.g., graphs, plots, panels, maps, and outlines. ACE is also a set of class libraries, so it has much more generality and extensibility than do spreadsheets. We believe that ACE represents a new way of building applications.