Algebraic specification languages: An overview

Wirsing, Martin

doi:10.1007/bfb0014423

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Specification structuring A reasonable specification language should provide ways to modularly present complex specifications, by allowing to split them in sensible pieces, also to help maintenance and reuse, but these constructs are linked neither to the formal models nor to the end products. The importance of this kind of structuring has been widely recognized since early times, as witnessed in the various specification languages (see [28]).…”

Section: Impact Of Formalism On Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formalism and method

Astesiano

Reggio

1997

TAPSOFT '97: Theory and Practice of Software Development

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Luckily, is getting strength the view that formal methods are useful tools within the context of an overall engineering process, heavily influenced by other factors that developers of formalisms should take into account. We argue that the impact of formalisms would much benefit from adopting the habit of systematically and carefully relating formalisms to methods and to the engineering context, at various levels of granularity. Consequently we oppose the attitude of conflating formalism and method, with the inevitable consequence of emphasizing the formalism or even just neglecting the methodological aspects. In order to make our reflections more concrete we illustrate our viewpoint addressing one particular activity in the software development process, namely the use of formal specification techniques.

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Section: Impact Of Formalism On Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formalism and method

Astesiano

Reggio

1997

TAPSOFT '97: Theory and Practice of Software Development

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“…Horizontal and vertical refinements correspond, in this approach, to loose extension and refinement morphism. Combinating these two types of refinements produces a similar effect, but is more powerful than the explicit genericity presented in other algebraic specification languages (Wirsing, 1995). A GSBL specification is implicitly parameterized by its incomplete parts.…”

Section: Specifying Reusable Componentsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Object-oriented software reusability through formal specifications

Favre

Diez

1998

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology

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Software reusability has two main purposes: to increase the reliability of software and to reduce the cost of software development. Most current approaches to objectoriented reusability are based on empirical methods focussing on reuse of implementation code. However the most effective forms of reuse are generally found at more abstract levels of software design. A model for the definition of the structure of a reusable component allowing descriptions of object class hierarchies at different levels of abstraction is presented. This model integrates algebraic specification and concrete classes in an object-oriented language. An objectoriented programming method with reuse, based on the model, is described. Our approach reconciles formal specifications with their concrete implementations.

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“…Algebraic methods have been widely used in the specification of computer systems. Algebraic specification refers to the use of algebraic semantics and equational reasoning for functional systems [1]. During the last decade, algebraic methods have been used to support the more wide-spread state-based software development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation and Abstract Behaviour in Specification and Implementation of State-based Systems

Pahl

2001

Electronic Workshops in Computing

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Classical algebraic specification is an accepted framework for specification. A criticism which applies is the fact that it is functional, not based on a notion of state as most software development and implementation languages are. We formalise the idea of a state-based object or abstract machine using algebraic means. In contrast to similar approaches we consider dynamic logic instead of equational logic as the framework for specification and implementation. The advantage is a more expressive language allowing us to specify safety and liveness conditions. It also allows a clearer distinction of functional and state-based parts which require different treatment in order to achieve behavioural abstraction when necessary. We shall in particular focus on abstract behaviour and observation. A behavioural notion of satisfaction for state-elements is needed in order to abstract from irrelevant details of the state realisation.5th Irish Workshop on Formal Methods IWFM'01

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Algebraic specification languages: An overview

Cited by 19 publications

References 47 publications

Formalism and method

Formalism and method

Object-oriented software reusability through formal specifications

Observation and Abstract Behaviour in Specification and Implementation of State-based Systems

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