1. A method for automatically generating code, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: scanning a directory comprising a plurality of electronic documents that form a software design specification; detecting one or more designated characteristics of the software system from scanning the software design specification; generating an output directory that is based at least partially on the directory of the software design specification; programmatically generating skeleton code of at least a first program file from the one or more designated characteristics; and locating the first program file at a node of the output directory based on a corresponding portion of the output directory.