Ebook: Larch: Languages and Tools for Formal Specification

Building software often seems harder than it ought to be. It takes longer than expected, the software's functionality and performance are not as wonderful as hoped, and the software is not particularly malleable or easy to maintain. It does not have to be that way. This book is about programming, and the role that formal specifications can play in making programming easier and programs better. The intended audience is practicing programmers and students in undergraduate or basic graduate courses in software engineering or formal methods. To make the book accessible to such an audience, we have not presumed that the reader has formal training in mathematics or computer science. We have, however, presumed some programming experience. The roles of fonnal specifications Designing software is largely a matter of combining, inventing, and planning the implementation of abstractions. The goal of design is to describe a set of modules that interact with one another in simple, well­ defined ways. If this is achieved, people will be able to work independently on different modules, and yet the modules will fit together to accomplish the larger purpose. In addition, during program maintenance it will be possible to modify a module without affecting many others. Abstractions are intangible. But they must somehow be captured and communicated. That is what specifications are for. Specification gives us a way to say what an abstraction is, independent of any of its implementations.

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This text addresses an important topic: the use of a formal specification language and supporting tools. Formal methods are becoming increasingly important to the practicing programmer; Springer-Verlag has a tradition of publishing books in this area. The book's subject, the Larch specification work at MIT and DEC, is respected amongst academic computer scientists. As plans begin for Larch tools to be distributed to the community, this book can serve as an invaluable reference. The authors of this text, James Horning and John Guttag, want their book to reach people interested in implementing formal methods into practical use. This readable text makes extensive use of examples, and serves as both a reference manual and as a tutorial. Chapter1 discusses the use of formal specifications in program development, providing a context for the technical material that follows. Chapter 2 contains a very short introduction to the notation of mathematical logic. The chapter is aimed at those with no background in logic, and provides all the logic background needed to understand the remainder of the book. The remaining six chapters of the book contains an in-depth look at Larch, and the authors' approach to the formal specification of program components.

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This text addresses an important topic: the use of a formal specification language and supporting tools. Formal methods are becoming increasingly important to the practicing programmer; Springer-Verlag has a tradition of publishing books in this area. The book's subject, the Larch specification work at MIT and DEC, is respected amongst academic computer scientists. As plans begin for Larch tools to be distributed to the community, this book can serve as an invaluable reference. The authors of this text, James Horning and John Guttag, want their book to reach people interested in implementing formal methods into practical use. This readable text makes extensive use of examples, and serves as both a reference manual and as a tutorial. Chapter1 discusses the use of formal specifications in program development, providing a context for the technical material that follows. Chapter 2 contains a very short introduction to the notation of mathematical logic. The chapter is aimed at those with no background in logic, and provides all the logic background needed to understand the remainder of the book. The remaining six chapters of the book contains an in-depth look at Larch, and the authors' approach to the formal specification of program components.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Specifications in Program Development....Pages 1-7
A Little Bit of Logic....Pages 8-13
An Introduction to Larch....Pages 14-34
LSL: The Larch Shared Language....Pages 35-55
LCL: A Larch Interface Language for C....Pages 56-101
LM3: A Larch Interface Language for Modula-3....Pages 102-120
Using LP to Debug LSL Specifications....Pages 121-153
Conclusion....Pages 154-156
Back Matter....Pages 157-253

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This text addresses an important topic: the use of a formal specification language and supporting tools. Formal methods are becoming increasingly important to the practicing programmer; Springer-Verlag has a tradition of publishing books in this area. The book's subject, the Larch specification work at MIT and DEC, is respected amongst academic computer scientists. As plans begin for Larch tools to be distributed to the community, this book can serve as an invaluable reference. The authors of this text, James Horning and John Guttag, want their book to reach people interested in implementing formal methods into practical use. This readable text makes extensive use of examples, and serves as both a reference manual and as a tutorial. Chapter1 discusses the use of formal specifications in program development, providing a context for the technical material that follows. Chapter 2 contains a very short introduction to the notation of mathematical logic. The chapter is aimed at those with no background in logic, and provides all the logic background needed to understand the remainder of the book. The remaining six chapters of the book contains an in-depth look at Larch, and the authors' approach to the formal specification of program components.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Specifications in Program Development....Pages 1-7
A Little Bit of Logic....Pages 8-13
An Introduction to Larch....Pages 14-34
LSL: The Larch Shared Language....Pages 35-55
LCL: A Larch Interface Language for C....Pages 56-101
LM3: A Larch Interface Language for Modula-3....Pages 102-120
Using LP to Debug LSL Specifications....Pages 121-153
Conclusion....Pages 154-156
Back Matter....Pages 157-253
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