The Verified Software Challenge: A Call for a Holistic Approach to Reliability

Construction and analysis of ground models and their refinements as a foundation for validating computer-based systems

“…Similarly, there can be a) no algorithmic criteria to decide whether a model is a correct ground model, and b) no algorithmic system of rules one could follow to construct appropriate ground models, although it is possible to formulate and learn problemspecific ground model patterns and structuring principles 11 . The problem is that the construction of ground models is an activity of "matching some significant part and aspect of an activity in the real world to the formal symbol manipulation that can be done by a program running on a computer" [78, pg.253], based on knowledge that "transcends that which is recorded in the documented products" (read: ground model), as is well explained in op.cit.…”

“…The negative (also economical) effect of such a lack of an appropriate system documentation is tangible in numerous famous system breakdowns, which keep the ominous "software crisis" alive already for four decades, and in the typical ad-hoc character of the fixes that too often are made without a deep understanding of the system and the real causes for the failure and therefore cannot guarantee that the next breakdown will not occur soon. See also the concern expressed in [11] that a verifying software project should not be focussed "on the analysis of artifacts (programs) rather than on their design and construction" since we cannot expect verification tools to inject high reliability into a program that was not designed with reliability in mind from the beginning.…”