The Foundations of Specification

Turner, Raymond

doi:10.1093/logcom/exi052

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A Codechart is a formal specification that represents a set of recursive (fully Turing-decidable) sentences in first-order predicate logic. The logic of Codecharts is based on the Core Specification Theory [21] which sets an axiomatic foundation in mathematical logic for many formal specification languages (including Z, B, and VDM). The axioms and semantics of Codecharts are defined using finite model theory.…”

Section: The Notationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated verification of design patterns: A case study

Nicholson

Eden

Gasparis

et al. 2014

Science of Computer Programming

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Representing design decisions for complex software systems, tracing them to code, and enforcing them throughout the lifecycle are pressing concerns for software architects and developers. To be of practical use, specification and modeling languages for software design need to combine rigour with abstraction and simplicity, and be supported by automated design verification tools that require minimal human intervention. This paper examines closely the use of the visual language of Codecharts for representing design decisions and demonstrate the process of verifying the conformance of a program to the chart. We explicate the abstract semantics of segments of the Java package java.awt as a finite structure; specify the Composite design pattern as a Codechart and unpack it as a set of formulas; and prove that the structure representing the program satisfies the formulas. We also describe a set of tools for modeling design patterns with Codecharts and for verifying the conformance of native (plain) Java programs to the charts.

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Section: The Notationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated verification of design patterns: A case study

Nicholson

Eden

Gasparis

et al. 2014

Science of Computer Programming

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“…An alternative to the semantic approach we presented could operate within the confines of one specification language, thereby allowing the formulation of the Intension/Locality criteria in syntactic terms. Turner [41], for example, describes a core theory of specifications which is comprehensive enough to express in first-order predicate calculus all the software design statements that we are interested in. Turner developed a rich formal theory that will eventually shed light on the practical use of specification languages in discussing programs, including Z, VDM and LePUS.…”

Section: Syntactic Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Abstraction classes in software design

2006

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Abstract. We distinguish three abstraction strata in software design statements:(i) Strategic design statements ('architectural design') determine global constraints, such as programming paradigms, architectural styles, component-based software engineering standards, design principles, and law-governed regularities. (ii) Tactical design statements ('detailed design') determine local constraints, such as design patterns, programming idioms, and refactorings. (iii) Implementation statements determine specific properties of the implementation, such as class diagrams and program documentation.Seeking to ground the distinction between Strategic, Tactical, and Implementation statements in a well-defined vocabulary, we define criteria of distinction in mathematical logic. We present the Intension/Locality Hypothesis, postulating that the spectrum of software design statements is divided into three well-defined 'abstraction classes' as follows:(i) The class of non-local statements (a_ ) contains Strategic statements;(ii) The class of local and intensional statements (_ \) contains Tactical statements; (iii) The class of 'local and extensional' statements (_ X) contains Implementation statements.We demonstrate a broad range of software design statements that corroborate our hypothesis.We conclude with a proof of the Architectural Mismatch theorem, according to which architectural mismatch arises from attempting to combine components that assume conflicting non-local statements.

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Codecharts

Eden

Nicholson²

2011

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The Foundations of Specification

Abstract: We develop and explore a Core Specification Theory (CST) as a basis for the meta-mathematical investigation of specification and specification languages.

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

Automated verification of design patterns: A case study

Automated verification of design patterns: A case study

Abstraction classes in software design

Codecharts

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