By now, most people have become familiar with the basic functionality and interfaces of computers. However, developing new or modified applications that effectively support users' goals still requires considerable expertise in programming that cannot be expected from most people. Thus, one fundamental challenge for the coming years is to develop environments that allow users who do not have background in programming to develop or modify their own applications, with the ultimate aim of empowering people to flexibly employ advanced information and communication technologies.The present book is an effort to make many important aspects of the international discussion on End User Development (EUD) available to a broader audience. It provides a unique set of contributions from various research institutes in various countries addressing relevant issues and proposing original solutions.

In October 1983 an informal meeting was organized in Le Cap d'Agde with the help of the BIGRE bulletin. Sixty people turned out to hear more than ten presentations on object-oriented programming. More important was their unanimous demand for other, more structured encounters. So, about one year later, the Object group was created by AFCET. A second workshop was organized in Brest, and again one year later in Paris, each time showing increased attendance and interest. The success of these meetings and the fact that similar activities were taking place in other European countries, especially Great Britain and Germany, led to the idea of an annual European Conference, providing a forum for theorists and practitioners interested in the object-oriented programming paradigm. It is impossible to acknowledge here all the people and organizations that welcomed with great enthusiasm the birth of the ECOOP conference and contributed to its organization. More than a hundred submissions were received and the program committee had the unpleasant task of turning down many valuable contributions. We hope, however, that the selection of papers for ECOOP'87 emphasizes the fundamental issues and problems of object-oriented programming and will point toward interesting future research directions.