摘要:

This paper considers how the meaning of process-oriented formal specifications might be made more apparent through the use of pictorial animation. The approach taken is based on techniques embodied in the software animation system PEEP. The PEEP system gives pictorial representations of the changing states of software as it is executed. It was designed for concurrent applications expressed in a modular multiprogramming language, such as Ada or Pascal Plus. Corresponding formal languages suitable for the specification of concurrent systems include CSP, CCS, SDL and LOTOS. The LOTOS language is used for illustration purposes in this paper, but the techniques discussed are equally applicable to the other languages.

DOI:10.1049/sej.1988.0013

出版商:IEE    

年代:1988

数据来源: IET

摘要:

Modula-2 was designed in 1979 by Prof. Niklaus Wirth as a successor to Pascal. It provides similar facilities for the description of algorithms and data structures, but differs radically from Pascal in allowing the composition of programs from separately compiled modules in a carefully controlled way. This paper recounts some experiences with implementing the languages for a variety of computers, and describes a collection of tools (mostly written in Modula-2) that provides an extensive program development environment for the language. In particular, a general set of run time libraries is described together with utilities for consistent compilation, symbolic debugging and run time profiling. The paper concludes with some observations on the language formed on the basis of these experiences.

DOI:10.1049/sej.1988.0014

出版商:IEE    

年代:1988

数据来源: IET

摘要:

This paper deals with executable descriptions of systems. The prime motivation of the paper is to show that functional programming languages are useful in software engineering practice. All kinds of systems, either with or without a state, can be modelled in a simple way. In this paper an attempt is made to devise executable models that are amenable to mathematical proofs. Apart from testing, proving is a viable technique for establishing correctness of algorithms. There exists a clear link to systems theory. Some restrictions have to be imposed on systems theory to obtain executability, but these restrictions are fewer than assumed normally when systems are described in imperative programming languages. As a consequence, an executable specification language is obtained. The well known ‘functional specs’ can be written in a purely functional programming language. This renders the phrase ‘functional specification’ doubly appropriate.

DOI:10.1049/sej.1988.0015

出版商:IEE    

年代:1988

数据来源: IET

摘要:

The quality of software products may be improved by enhancing the performance of any of the varied activities associated with the production of the software. One such activity is ‘project planning’. Project planning may be a small part of the total project effort, but will have a large effect on all activities in the project and, therefore, a major impact on the final software quality. Thus the cost benefits that can be expected from effective project planning are substantial. This paper discusses ‘structured planning’ – the integration of many aspects of planning, such as work breakdown, scheduling, resource allocation and change/defect tracking, into a single project model, which could be the basis of a structured planning software tool.

DOI:10.1049/sej.1988.0016

出版商:IEE    

年代:1988

数据来源: IET