Algebraic specifications: state of the art and open perspectives

The advantages of formal specifications are many: they avoid ambiguities, inconsistencies, and incompleteness, allow the introduction of automated or semiautomated tools (for verification, prototyping, and systematic development), etc. Among different approaches to formal specifications, algebraic specifications have had a particular success. The purpose of this study is to examine the state of the art for this approach, its main achievements, and the principal problems still to be solved and to outline future perspectives in the field