Domain knowledge

Domain knowledge is knowledge of a specific, specialized discipline or field, in contrast to general knowledge, or domain-independent knowledge. The term is often used in reference to a more general discipline, as, for example, in describing a software engineer who has general knowledge of programming, as well as domain knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry. People who have domain knowledge, are often considered specialists or experts in the field. Domain knowledge is knowledge of a specific, specialized discipline or field, in contrast to general knowledge, or domain-independent knowledge. The term is often used in reference to a more general discipline, as, for example, in describing a software engineer who has general knowledge of programming, as well as domain knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry. People who have domain knowledge, are often considered specialists or experts in the field. In software engineering domain knowledge is knowledge about the environment in which the target system operates, for example, software agents. Domain knowledge usually must be learned from software users in the domain (as domain specialists/experts), rather than from software developers. It may include user workflows, data pipelines, business policies, configurations and constraints and is crucial in the development of a software application. Expert’s domain knowledge (frequently informal and ill-structured) is transformed in computer programs and active data, for example in a set of rules in knowledge bases, by knowledge engineers.