Recent work on Computer Aided Control Systems Design (CACSD) tools has put an increased emphasis on the design of good man-machine interfaces. This paper will survey the properties of an increasingly popular group of user-interfaces, the so-called matrix (control) environments, with comparisons to other approaches. In the first section, the progress of CACSD is compared to general advancements in computer-science. Thereafter, the unique characteristics of CACSD software as opposed to related application software are defined. In the third section, the use of interactive command languages as found in the matrix (control) environments will be evaluated. Finally, the advantages of integrated, all-encompassing packages versus special-purpose programs are discussed.
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