42679892
Whither Formal Methods: A Plea To Investigate New Applications
[1] K. V. Hanford and C. B. Jones. Dynamic Syntax: A Concept for the Definition of the Syntax of Programming Languages, volume 7 of Annual Review in Automatic Programming. Pergamon Press, 1974. [2] D. Bjørner and C. B. Jones, editors. The Vienna Development Method: The Meta-Language, volume 61 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. SpringerVerlag, 1978. [3] C. B. Jones. Software Development: A Rigorous Approach. Prentice Hall International, 1980. ISBN 0-13-821884-6. [4] D. Bjørner and C. B. Jones. Formal Specification and Software Development. Prentice Hall International, 1982. ISBN 0-13-329003-4. [5] H. Bekič and C. B. Jones, editors. Programming Languages and Their Definition: Selected Papers of H. Bekič, volume 177 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, 1984. [6] C. B. Jones. Systematic Software Development Using VDM. Prentice Hall International, 1986. ISBN 0-13-880717-5. [7] C. A. R. Hoare and C. B. Jones. Essays in Computing Science. Prentice Hall International, 1989. ISBN 0-13-284027-8. [8] C. B. Jones. Systematic Software Development using VDM. Prentice Hall International, second edition, 1990. ISBN 0-13-880733-7. [9] C. B. Jones and R. C. F. Shaw, editors. Case Studies in Systematic Software Development. Prentice Hall International, 1990. ISBN 0-13-116088-5. [10] C. B. Jones, K. D. Jones, P. A. Lindsay, and R. Moore. mural: A Formal Development Support System. Springer-Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3-540-19651-X. During time in industry, even significant items were not necessarily published externally: e.g. [178] was a complete defintion of Algol 60 using “functional semantics”; [187] introduced the concept of “implementation bias” [169] introduced the “exit” idea; [183] was the key output of the denotational semantics definition of PL/I which marks the start of VDM as a language defintion method.
6772552
Fixing the semantics of some concurrent object-oriented concepts
Abstract Concurrent object-oriented languages provide a suitable target for a compositional design process that copes with the interference inherent with concurrency. Fixing the semantics of an object-based design language has been undertaken using structured operational semantics and by a mapping to the pi-calculus. These two approaches are outlined and contrasted. In particular, the difficulties in the two approaches of justifying the proof rules of the proposed design method are explained.
15308825
Scientific Decisions which Characterize VDM
The formal description and development method known as VDM has been used extensively, its specification language is now an ISO standard, and it has influenced other specification languages. The origins of VDM are normally placed in language description or semantics but it is probably best known in the wider arena of formal methods for (general) program specification and design. This paper sets out a personal view of some of the key technical decisions which characterize the Vienna Development Method.
45828501
Formal Definition in Program Development
The intent of the current paper is to show how a large problem like compiler development can be divided in a way which provides a structure for arguments of correctness. Although mechanically checked proofs are not envisaged, the use of formal notation is recommended so that the basis for correctness arguments exists.
2399941
Operational semantics: Concepts and their expression
9236653
The Early Search for Tractable Ways of Reasoning about Programs
This article traces the history - up to around 1990 - of research on reasoning about programs. The main focus is on sequential imperative programs but some comments are made on concurrency. The main thesis is that the idea of reasoning about programs has been around since they were first written; the search has been to find tractable methods.
26658779
Virtual architecture based on a binary relational model: A museum hypermedia application
6251055
End-User Programming
End-user software development is a growing avocation in every industry and every country. By the middle of the next century, computer literacy and programming skills will be almost as common as reading and writing skills. Almost every knowledge worker in the world will be able to program if he or she sets out to do so. The implications of widespread end-user software are only just beginning to be considered. There are many exciting possibilities and some potential hazards. The time is now at hand to consider business topics such as ownership of end-user applications and liability in cases of significant errors. >
32895841
Software Change Management
Software projects change rapidly, which makes efficient change management a major challenge for the software industry. This challenge was poorly met for years because of rudimentary tools. The paper considers how modern change management, or configuration control tools must encompass changes affecting every kind of software deliverable and artifact.
205571678
A Prolog Rule-Based System for Cartographic Name Placement
Manual name placement is an extremely time consuming task and has been one of the most difficult aspects of the map production process to automate. It is complicated by the large number of rules required for the selection and placement of names. A hybrid Prolog/Fortrau rule-based system is described for placing names on a variety of map types. It uses a set of Prolog primitives for spatial search and name placement operations. The Ordnance Survey's 1:625000 scale digital dataset has been used to illustrate the application of rules for the selection of labels as well as for controlling their size and orientation. The application to other types of maps and diagrams is also briefly described.
33896540
A Triangulated Spatial Model for Cartographic Generalisation of Areal Objects
Cartographic generalisation involves interaction between individual operators concerned with processes such as object elimination, detail reductions amalgamation, typification and displacement. Effective automation of these processes requires a means of maintaining knowledge of the spatial relationships between map objects in order to ensure that constraints of topology and of proximity are obeyed in the course of the individual generalisation transformations. Triangulated spatial models, based on the constrained Delaunay triangulation, have proven to be of particular value in representing the proximal and topological relations between map objects and hence in performing many of the essential tasks of fully automated cartographic generalisation. These include the identification of nearby objects; determination of the structure of space between nearby objects; execution of boundary simplification, merge and collapse operations; and the detection and resolution, by displacement, of topological inconsistencies arising from individual operators. In this paper we focus on the use of a triangulated model for operations specific to execution of merge operations between areal objects. The model is exploited to identify the regions of space between nearby objects and to execute merge operations in which the triangulation is used variously to adopt intervening space and to move adjacent rectangular objects to touch each other. Methods for updating the triangulation are described.