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Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing pp 704–710Cite as

Formal Methods–Based Tools for Race, Deadlock, and Other Errors

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Definition

Formal methods–based tools for parallel programs use mathematical concepts such as formal semantics, formal specifications, or logics to examine the state space of a program. They aim at proving the absence of common concurrency errors such as races, deadlocks, livelocks, or atomicity violations for all possible executions of a program. Common techniques applied by formal methods–based tools include deductive verification, model checking, and static program analysis.

Discussion

Introduction

Concurrent programs are notoriously difficult to test. Their behavior depends not only on the input but also on the scheduling of threads or processes. Many concurrency errors occur only for very specific schedulings, which makes them extremely hard to find and reproduce.

An alternative to testing is to apply formal methods. Formal methods use mathematical concepts to examine all possible executions of a program. Therefore, they are able to guarantee certain properties for all inputs and...

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Felix Klaedtke and Christoph Wintersteiger for their helpful comments on a draft of this entry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Programming Methodology, Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Peter Müller Prof.

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  1. Peter Müller Prof.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    David Padua

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Müller, P. (2011). Formal Methods–Based Tools for Race, Deadlock, and Other Errors. In: Padua, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4_399

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