Formal methods are mathematically-based techniques, often supported by reasoning tools, that can offer a rigorous and effective way to model, design and analyze computer systems. The purpose of this study is to evaluate international industrial experience in using formal methods. The cases selected are, we believe, representative of industrial-grade projects and span a variety of application domains. The study had three main objectives: . To better inform deliberations within industry and government on standards and regulations; . To provide an authoritative record on the practical experience of formal methods to date; and . To suggest areas where future research and technology development are needed. This is the first volume of a two volume, final report on an international survey of industrial applications of formal methods. This volume describes the study, the formal methods, the cases that were studied, our approach to performing the study, and our analysis, findings and conclusion...

. Reusing software may greatly increase the productivity of software engineers and improve the quality of developed software. Software component libraries have been suggested as a means for facilitating reuse. Using formal specifications to represent software components facilitates the determination of reusable software because they more precisely characterize the functionality of the software, and the well-defined syntax makes processing amenable to automation. This paper presents an approach, based on formal methods, to the classification and organization of reusable software components. From a set of formal specifications, a two-tiered hierarchy of software components is constructed. The formal specifications represent software that has been implemented and verified for correctness. The hierarchical organization of the software component specifications provides a means for storing, browsing, and retrieving reusable components that is amenable to automation. A prototype ...

The safety of software is becoming increasingly important as computers pervade control systems on whichhuman life depends. Whilst hardware has become significantly more reliable over the years, the same cannot be said of software. This has become more complex and methods to ensure its correctness have been slow in development. One approach is to mathematically verify software in such systems. This paper investigates the industrial use of these techniques, their advantages and disadvantages, and the introduction of standards and their recommendations concerning formal methods in this area. The cost of safety is also considered.

Reusing software may greatly increase the productivity of software engineers and improve the quality of developed software. Software component libraries have been suggested as a means for facilitating reuse. A major difficulty in designing software libraries is in the selection of a component representation that will facilitate the classification and the retrieval processes. Using formal specifications to represent software components facilitates the determination of reusable software because they more precisely characterize the functionality of the software, and the well-defined syntax makes processing amenable to automation. This paper presents an approach, based on formal methods, to the classification, organization, and retrieval of reusable software components. From a set of formal specifications, a two-tiered hierarchy of software components is constructed. The formal specifications represent software that has been implemented and verified for correctness. The lower-lev...

this report assesses the state of the art in specification and verification. For verification, we highlight advances in model checking and theorem proving. In the three sections on specification, model checking, and theorem proving, we explain what we mean by the general technique and briefly describe some successful case studies and well-known tools. The second part of this report outlines future directions in fundamental concepts, new methods and tools, integration of methods, and education and technology transfer. We close with summary remarks and pointers to resources for more information

The intention of this document is to give an overview of the syntax of the Specification Language of the Vienna Development Method (VDM) as an aid to those who are to some extent familiar with formal notations and have to read or review documents containing VDM. This document is not a tutorial introduction to or motivation for formal methods in general or VDM in particular; nor is it a formal description of what VDM is or means. Both these types of description can be found in the references. This work was supported both by the DTI Teaching Company Scheme. Copyright c fl1992. All rights reserved. Reproduction of all or part of this work is permitted for educational or research purposes on condition that (1) this copyright notice is included, (2) proper attribution to the author or authors is made and (3) no commercial gain is involved. Technical Reports issued by the Department of Computer Science, Manchester University, are available by anonymous ftp from m1.cs.man.ac.uk (130.8...