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How to Select the Suitable Formal Method for an Industrial Application: A Survey

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Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B, TLA, VDM, and Z (ABZ 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 9675))

Abstract

The share of formal methods is still marginal in contemporary systems and software engineering. One of the reasons is the absence of systematic guidelines and evaluation criteria that help software practitioners choose the right formal method for the problem at hand. In this paper, we present a comprehensive set of criteria, based on a systematic literature review and decade-long personal experience in industrial projects, for evaluating and comparing different formal methods. We argue that besides technical grounds (e.g., modeling capabilities and supported development phases), formal methods should also be evaluated from social and industrial perspectives. At the end of the paper, we present an evaluation of “ABZ” methods based on the stipulated criteria.

The research presented in this paper is supported by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, and the Province of Upper Austria in the frame of the COMET center SCCH. The writing of the paper is partially supported by the Austrian Science Fund project: Behavioral Theory and Logics for Distributed Adaptive Systems (FWF-P26452-N15).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Software Competence Center Hagenberg GmbH, Hagenberg, Austria

    Felix Kossak & Atif Mashkoor

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  1. Felix Kossak
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  2. Atif Mashkoor
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Correspondence to Atif Mashkoor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

    Michael Butler

  2. Software Competence Center, Hagenberg, Austria

    Klaus-Dieter Schewe

  3. Software Competence Center, Hagenberg, Austria

    Atif Mashkoor

  4. Software Competence Center, Hagenberg, Austria

    Miklos Biro

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Kossak, F., Mashkoor, A. (2016). How to Select the Suitable Formal Method for an Industrial Application: A Survey. In: Butler, M., Schewe, KD., Mashkoor, A., Biro, M. (eds) Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B, TLA, VDM, and Z. ABZ 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9675. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33600-8_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33600-8_13

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