Bases for the development of LAST: a formal method for business software requirements specification

Abstract

This paper proposes a possible approach to IS requirements speci®cation. It relies on the application of standard (i.e. conventional) discrete mathematics, more precisely, it uses a fairly limited number of concepts from the ®elds of linear algebra and set theory (hence its name, LAST). The use of LAST for data de®nition and query±answer are discussed in some detail, given the data-rich quality of Business IS and the fact that a solid data-model is therefore essential to their speci®cation. The proposed approach implies integration with other semiformal speci®cation methods, two of the possibilities being integration with UML±OCL and with the Entity Relationship Model, which are discussed in this paper. Finally, mapping of LAST speci®cations to the Relational Model is also addressed; this possibility having an interest both, for (partial) implementation and for model simulation. q