Modeling compliance specifications in linear temporal logic, event processing language and property specification patterns: a controlled experiment on understandability

Abstract

Mature verification and monitoring approaches, such as complex event processing and model checking, can be applied for checking compliance specifications at design time and runtime. Little is known about the understandability of the different formal and technical languages associated with these approaches. This uncertainty regarding understandability might be a major obstacle for the broad practical adoption of those techniques. This article reports a controlled experiment with 215 participants on the understandability of modeling compliance specifications in representative modeling languages, namely linear temporal logic (LTL), the complex event processing-based event processing language (EPL) and property specification patterns (PSP). The formalizations in PSP were overall more correct. That is, the pattern-based approach provides a higher level of understandability than EPL and LTL. More advanced users, however, seemingly are able to cope equally well with PSP and EPL in modeling compliance specifications. Keywords Controlled experiment • Understandability • Linear temporal logic • Property specification patterns • Complex event processing • Event processing language 1 Introduction Many domains are subject to a vast and ever-growing number of rules and constraints stemming from sources including laws, legislation, regulations, standards, guidelines, contracts and best practices. One example is compliance in the corporate and financial sector. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) [55] is a federal law that defines rules in reaction to major corporate accounting scandals in the USA (e.g.,