DocumentCode
772147
Title
Executing formal specifications need not be harmful
Author
Gravell, Andrew ; Henderson, Peter
Author_Institution
Dept. of Electron. & Comput. Sci., Southampton Univ., UK
Volume
11
Issue
2
fYear
1996
fDate
3/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
104
Lastpage
110
Abstract
The various arguments that have been advanced for and against the use of executable specifications are reviewed. Examples are provided of the problems that may arise in applying this technique and of the benefits which may accrue. A case study is reported in which execution is used to validate the published specification of a commercially available package. It is concluded that there are circumstances when executable specifications can be of high value but that execution must be used together with, and as a supplement to, other methods of validating specifications such as inspection and proof
Keywords
formal specification; program verification; software packages; benefits; case study; commercial software package; executable specifications; formal specifications; program inspection; program proving; specification validation;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Software Engineering Journal
Publisher
iet
ISSN
0268-6961
Type
jour
Filename
487422
Link To Document