Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Software Uncertainty

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Soft-Ware 2002: Computing in an Imperfect World (Soft-Ware 2002)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2311))

Abstract

This paper presents reasoning implying that the outcome of the execution of an E-type program or E-type software system (software for short) of whatever class are not absolutely predictable. It is intrinsically uncertain. Some of the sources of that uncertainty are identified and it is argued that the phenomenon qualifies as a Principle of Software Uncertainty. The latter represents an example of an assertion in a Theory of Software Evolution which is ripe for development based on empirical generalisations identified in previous research, most recently in the FEAST projects. The paper briefly discusses some practical implications of uncertainty, and the other concepts presented, on evolution technology and software processes. Though much of what is presented here has previously been discussed, its presentation as a cohesive whole provides a new perspective.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Banach R and Poppleton MR, Retrenchment, Refinement and Simulation, in J.P. Bowen, S.E. Dunne, A. Galloway, King S. (editors) ZB2000: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B, Springer, 2000, 525 pp

    Google Scholar 

  2. Belady LA and Lehman MM, An Introduction to Program Growth Dynamics, in W. Freiburger, (editor) Statistical Computer Performance Evaluation, Academic Press, New York, pp. 503–511

    Google Scholar 

  3. Brooks FP, No Silver Bullet-Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering, Information Processing 86, Proc. IFIP Congress 1986, Dublin, Sept. 1–5, Elsevier Science Publishers (BV), North Holland, pp. 1069–1076

    Google Scholar 

  4. CERN, The Earth breathes on LEP and LHC, CERN Bulletin 09/98; 23 February 1998, http://bulletin.cern.ch/9809/art1/Text_E.html<as of Nov. 2001>

  5. Coleman JS, Introduction to Mathematical Sociology, The Free Press Of Glencoe, Collier-Macmillan Limited, London, 1964, 554 pps

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dijkstra EW, The Humble Programmer, ACM Turing Award Lecture, CACM, v. 15, n.10, Oct. 1972, pp. 859–866

    Google Scholar 

  7. Finkelstein A, Gabbay D, Hunter A, Kramer J and Nuseibeh B, Inconsistency Handling in Multi-Perspective Specifications, IEEE Trans. on Softw. Eng., v. 20, n. 8, Aug. 1994, pp. 569–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hoare CAR, An Axiomatic Basis for Computer Programming, CACM, v. 12, n.10, Oct., pp. 576–583

    Google Scholar 

  9. id., Proof of a Program FIND, CACM, v. 14, n. 1, Jan.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Van Lamsweerde A, Formal Specification: a Roadmap, in A. Finkelstein (ed.), The Future of Software Engineering, 22nd ICSE, Limerick, Ireland, 2000, ACM Order N. 592000-1, pp. 149–159

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lehman MM, Programs, Cities, Students—Limits to Growth, Imp. Col. Inaug. Lect. Ser., v.9, 1970–1974, pp. 211–229; also in Gries, 1978

    Google Scholar 

  12. id, Human Thought and Action as an Ingredient of System Behaviour, in The Encyclopædia of Ignorance, R Duncan and M Weston-Smith, editors, Pergamon Press, London, 1977, pp. 347–354

    Google Scholar 

  13. id, Laws of Program Evolution-Rules and Tools for Programming Management, Proc. Infotech State of the Art Conference, Why Software Projects Fail, April 9–11, 1978, pp. 1V1–lV25

    Google Scholar 

  14. id, Program Life Cycles and Laws of Software Evolution, Proc. lEEE Spec. Iss. on Softw. Eng., Sept. 1980, pp. 1060–1076

    Google Scholar 

  15. id, A Further Model of Coherent Programming Process, Proc. Softw. Proc. Worksh., Egham, Surrey, 6–8 Feb. 1984, IEEE Cat. no. 84 CH 2044-6, pp. 27–35

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lehman MM and Belady LA, Program Evolution—Processes of Software Change, Academic Press, London, 1985

    Google Scholar 

  17. Lehman MM, Uncertainty in Computer Application and its Control Through the Engineering of Software, J. of Software Maintenance: Research and Practice, v. 1, n. 1, Sept. 1989, pp. 3–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lehman MM, Software Engineering as the Control of Uncertainty in Computer Application, SEL Software Engineering Workshop, Goddard Space Centre, MD, 29 Nov. 1989, publ. 1990

    Google Scholar 

  19. id, Uncertainty in Computer Application, CACM, v. 33, n. 5, May 1990, pp. 584–586

    Google Scholar 

  20. id, Uncertainty in Computer Applications is Certain—Software Engineering as a Control, Proc. CompEuro 90, Int. Conf. on Computer Systems and Software Engineering, Tel Aviv, 7–9 May, 1990, Publ. by IEEE Comp. Soc. Press, n. 2041, pp 468–474

    Google Scholar 

  21. id, Feedback in the Software Evolution Process, Keynote Address, CSR Eleventh Annual Workshop on Software Evolution: Models and Metrics, Dublin, 7–9 Sept. 1994, Workshop Proc., Information and Software Technology, sp. is. on Software Maintenance, v. 38, n. 11, 1996, Elsevier, 1996, pp. 681–686

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. Lehman MM and Ramil JF, Software System Maintenance and Evolution in an Era of Reuse, COTS and Component Based Systems, Joint Keynote Lecture, International Conference on Software Maintenance and Int. Workshop on Empirical Studies of Software Maintenance WESS 99, Oxford, 3 Sept. 1999

    Google Scholar 

  23. id, Towards a Theory of Software Evolution—And Its Practical Impact, invited talk, Proc. ISPSE 2000, Intl. Symposium on the Principles of Software Evolution, Kanazawa, Japan, Nov 1–2, 2000, IEEE CS Press, pp. 2–11

    Google Scholar 

  24. Lehman MM, SETh-Towards a Theory of Software Evolution, EPSRC Proposal, Case for Support Part 2, Dept. of Comp. ICSTM, 5 Jul. 2001

    Google Scholar 

  25. Lehman MM and Ramil JF, Rules and Tools of Software Evolution Planning, Management and Control, Annals of Software Engineering, Spec. Iss. on Softw. Management, v. 11., issue 1, 2001, pps. 15–44

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. Nuseibeh B, Kramer J and Finkelstein A, A Framework for Expressing the Relationships Between Multiple Views in Requirements Specification, Trans. on Software Engineering, vol. 20, n. 10, Oct. 1994, pp 760–773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Nuseibeh B, Arianne 5 Who Dunnit?, IEEE Software, May/June 1997, pp. 15–16

    Google Scholar 

  28. Pfleeger S, Software Engineering—The Production of Quality Software, Macmillan Pub. Co., 1987

    Google Scholar 

  29. Scarrott G, Copies of various relevant papers, published and unpublished and including the one reference that can be obtained from one of the authors (mml) of this paper

    Google Scholar 

  30. Simon HA, The Sciences of the Artificial, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, MA. 1969, 2nd ed, 1981

    Google Scholar 

  31. Turski WM, Specification as a Theory with Models in the Computer World and in the Real World, System Design, Infotech State of the Art Rep. (P Henderson ed), se. 9, n. 6, 1981, pp 363–377

    Google Scholar 

  32. Turski WM and Maibaum TSE, The Specification of Computer Programs, Addison-Wesley, Wokingham, 1987

    Google Scholar 

  33. Turski WM, An Essay on Software Engineering at the Turn of the Century, in T. Maibaum (editor), Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering, Proc. Third Int. Conf. FASE 2000. March/April 2000. LNCS 1783, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 1–20

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  34. Wirth N, Program Development by Stepwise Refinement, CACM, v.14, n.4, Apr. 1971, pp. 221–227

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computing, Imperial College, 180 Queen’s Gate, SW7 2BZ, London, UK

    Manny M. Lehman

  2. Computing Dept., Faculty of Maths and Computing, The Open University, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA, Milton Keynes, UK

    J. F. Ramil

Authors
  1. Manny M. Lehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. F. Ramil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Informatics School of Information and Software Engineering, University of Ulster, Jordanstown Campus, BT37 0QB, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

    David Bustard , Weiru Liu  & Roy Sterritt ,  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lehman, M.M., Ramil, J.F. (2002). Software Uncertainty. In: Bustard, D., Liu, W., Sterritt, R. (eds) Soft-Ware 2002: Computing in an Imperfect World. Soft-Ware 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2311. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46019-5_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46019-5_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43481-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46019-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation