Title :
Constrained expressions: Adding analysis capabilities to design methods for concurrent software systems
Author :
Avrunin, George S. ; Dillon, Laura K. ; Wileden, Jack C. ; Riddle, William E.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Math. & Stat., Massachusetts Univ., Amherst, MA, USA
Abstract :
An approach to the design of concurrent software systems based on the constrained expression formalism is described. This formalism provides a rigorous conceptual model for the semantics of concurrent computations, thereby supporting analysis of important system properties as part of the design process. This approach allows designers to use standard specification and design languages, rather than forcing them to deal with the formal model explicitly or directly. As a result, the approach attains the benefits of formal rigor without the associated pain of unnatural concepts or notations for its users. The conceptual model of concurrency underlying the constrained expression formalism treats the collection of possible behaviors of a concurrent system as a set of sequences of events. The constrained expression formalism provides a useful closed-form description of these sequences. Algorithms were developed for translating designs expressed in a wide variety of notations into these constrained expression descriptions. A number of powerful analysis techniques that can be applied to these descriptions have also been developed.
Keywords :
parallel processing; software engineering; specification languages; analysis capabilities; closed-form description; concurrent software systems; constrained expression formalism; design languages; design methods; design process; semantics; software engineering; specification; system properties; Computer languages; Concurrent computing; Design methodology; Educational institutions; Filtering; Semantics; Software systems; Ada-based design notation; analysis techniques; concurrent software systems; constrained expressions; design method; event-based;
Journal_Title :
Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TSE.1986.6312944