Specification, Analysis and Testing of Grid Environments Using Abstract State Machines

Abstract state machines (ASM) are mathematically defined environment for high-level system design, verification and analysis. This paper presents a proposition of a hybrid approach to the specification, analysis and testing of grid middleware using ASM. This approach allows an easy integration of created specification of developed middleware with existing components of grid systems. The important advantage of this approach is an automatic generation of test procedures for the implementation, following the model-based testing approach. This allows a smooth transition from the specification to implementation stage, as well as investigation of features of specification and implementation, at every stage of their development. Also, we propose a software environment which implements the proposed approach. Its use in practice helps to create more reliable grid systems