Framework enabling end-users to maintain web applications

INTER-Mediator is a framework for developing web applications and it can be applied to the IT systems of small organizations that do not have large budgets. Web pages based on INTER-Mediator can be synchronized with a database simply by using declarative descriptions, and no imperative code is required as far as their binding to a database goes. Although software engineers should do the initial development, end-users and web designers can be involved in later parts of the development, especially in the maintenance phase because certain modifications can be handled within declarative descriptions. In this paper, we show that this framework enables end-users without specialized programming skills to perform maintenance on web applications. We explain the mechanism of binding and template processing and examine how easy it is for web designers to learn how to use INTER-Mediator. If non-programmers like end-users, designers, etc., can participate in the system development process, the total cost can be reduced, and small- and medium-sized organizations will have more opportunities to introduce web-based business systems.