An engineering approach to formal methods

Citation

Turner KJ (1993) An engineering approach to formal methods. In: Danthine A, Leduc G & Wolper P (eds.) Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification XIII, Proceedings of the IFIP TC6/WG6.1 Thirteenth International Symposium on Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification, Liege, Belgium, 25 - 28 May, 1993. IFIP Transactions C: Communication Systems, 16. IFIP TC6/WG6.1 Thirteenth International Symposium on Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification, Belgium, 25.05.1993-28.05.1993. Amsterdam: North-Holland, now Elsevier, pp. 357-380. http://books.google.com/books?id=9KNrAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1

Abstract
The distinctive features of engineering are discussed, and used to identify how an engineering approach to formal methods might be developed. The key concept in engineering is suggested to be known components that are combined in known ways. This component-based style is illustrated for two application areas at two levels: in high-level specification of communications services, and in low-level specification of digital logic. The underlying formal language is LOTOS (Language Of Temporal Ordering Specification).

Keywords
; Formal methods (Computing science); Software engineering