The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

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Design science emphasizes the connection between knowledge and practice by showing that we can produce scientific knowledge by designing useful things. However, without further guidelines, aspiring design science researchers tend to identify practical problems with knowledge questions, which may lead to methodologically unsound research designs. To solve a practical problem, the real world is changed to suit human purposes, but to solve a knowledge problem, we acquire knowledge about the world without necessarily changing it. In design science, these two kinds of problems are mutually nested, but this nesting should not blind us for the fact that their problem-solving and solution justification methods are different. This paper analyzes the mutual nesting of practical problems and knowledge problems, derives some methodological guidelines from this for design science researchers, and gives an example of a design science project following this problem nesting.

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This article surveys techniques used in structured and object-oriented software specification methods. The techniques are classified as techniques for the specification of external interaction and internal decomposition. The external interaction specification techniques are further subdivided into techniques for the specification of functions, behavior, and communication. After surveying the techniques, we summarize the way they are used in structured and object-oriented methods and indicate ways in which they can be combined. The article ends with a plea for simplicity in diagram techniques and for the use of formal semantics to define these techniques. The appendices show how the reviewed techniques are used in 6 structured and 19 object-oriented specification methods.

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