Theorem proving in technology transfer: the user’s point of view

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the potentials, problems and critical factors for the industrial usage of mechanized theorem proving. The approach followed in this paper is somehow unusual. The starting point is the results of an industrial project whose goal was the assessment of the state of the art of provers (and of tools supporting formal methods in general). We describe the project results in terms of evaluation criteria, classification of technologies and tools and critical factors for industrial take-up. We present the results of the assessment in the same spirit, the same kind of analysis and even the same terminology which were used in the presentations and in the deliverables of the project. This should result in a presentation of a "different view" of the problem of technology transfer in theorem proving, that we call the "user's point of view". In this way, we hope to give a new perspective in the discussion of the industrial take-up of the theorem proving technology.

A Formal Model for Dynamically Adaptable Services

“…Model checking [18] as an automatic verification technique covers a wide field of diverse, often ad hoc, and incomplete methods for showing correctness, or, more precisely, for finding bugs. Other verification techniques include theorem proving [19] and testing [20]. This technique allows software developers to find subtle errors in the design of safety-critical systems that often elude conventional simulation and testing techniques in a proven cost-effective manner by systematically exploring the state space of concurrent or reactive systems.…”

Formal Specification and Verification of CSMA/CD Protocol Using Z

“…Penggunaan kaedah formal dalam spesifikasi adalah untuk memahami keperluan pelanggan, mengenalpasti kekaburan, ketidakkonsistenan dan ketidaklengkapan dalam spesifikasi pada peringkat awal fasa pembangunan, dan memudahkan untuk diselenggara (Wing 1990;Giunchiglia & Traverso 2000).…”