Abstract State Machines 2004

Abstract state machines (ASM) sharpen the Church-Turing thesis by the c- sideration of bounded resources for computing devices. They view computations as an evolution of a state. It has been shown that all known models of com- tation can be expressed through speci?c abstract state machines. These models can be given in a representation-independent way. That is one advantage of transferring these models to ASM. The main advantage is, however, to provide a unifying theory to all of these models. At the same time ASM can be re?ned to other ASMs. Stepwise re?nement supports separation of concern during so- ware development and will support component-based construction of systems thus providing a foundation of new computational paradigms such as industrial programming, programming-in-the-large, and programming-in-the-world. ASM 2004 continued the success story of the ASM workshops. Previous workshops were held in the following European cities: Taormina, Italy (2003); Dagstuhl, Germany (2002); Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain (2001); Monte Verita, Switherland (2000); Toulouse, France (1999); Magdeburg, Germany (1998); Cannes, France (1998, 1997); Paderborn, Germany (1996); and H- burg, Germany (1994). The ASM workshops have had predecessors, e.g., the famous Lipari Summer School in 1993, whose in?uential outcome was the f- damental Lipari Guide.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Abstract State Machines, ASM 2004, held in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany, in May 2004. The 12 revised full research papers presented together with 4 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The papers reflect state-of-the-art research and development of the abstract state machine method for the design and analysis of complex software and hardware systems. Besides theoretical results and methodological progress, applications in various fields are studied as well.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference of Abstract State Machines, B and Z, ABZ 2008, held in London, UK, in September 2008. The conference simultaneously incorporated the 15th International ASM Workshop, the 17th International Conference of Z Users and the 8th International Conference on the B Method. The 44 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The conference fosters the cross-fertilization of three rigorous methods for the design and analysis of hardware and software systems - both in academia and industry - namely Abstract State Machines, B, and Z. Covering a wide range of research spanning from theoretical and methodological foundations to tool support and practical applications, the contributions are organized in topical sections on abstract state machines, B papers, Z papers, ABZ short papers, and the papers of the Verified Software Repository Network (VSR-net) workshop.

“Professional engineers can often be distinguished from other designers by the engineers’ ability to use mathematical models to describe and 1 analyze their products.” This observation by Parnas describes the de facto professional standards in all classical engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.). Unf- tunately, it is in sharp contrast with current (industrial) practice in software design, where mathematical models are hardly used at all, even by those who, 2 in Holloway’s words “aspire to be engineers.” The rare exceptions are certain critical applications, where mathematical techniques are used under the general name formal methods. Yet,thesamecharacteristicsthatmakeformalmethodsanecessityincritical applicationsmakethemalsoadvantageousineverydaysoftwaredesignatvarious levels from design e?ciency to software quality. Why, then, is education failing with respect to formal methods? – failing to convince students, academics and practitioners alike that formal methods are truly pragmatic; – failing to overcome a phobia of formality and mathematics; – failing to provide students with the basic skills and understanding required toadoptamoremathematicalandlogicalapproachtosoftwaredevelopment. Until education takes these failings seriously, formal methods will be an obscure byway in software engineering, which in turn will remain severely impoverished as a result.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Abstract State Machines, B and Z, which took place in Orford, QC, Canada, in February 2010. The 26 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 60 submissions. The book also contains two invited talks and abstracts of 18 short papers which address work in progress, industrial experience reports and tool descriptions. The papers cover recent advances in four equally rigorous methods for software and hardware development: abstract state machines (ASM), Alloy, B and Z. They share a common conceptual framework, centered around the notions of state and operation, and promote mathematical precision in the modeling, verification and construction of highly dependable systems.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Frontiers of Combining Systems, FroCoS 2005, held in Vienna, Austria, in September 2005. The 19 revised full papers presented including 2 system descriptions were carefully reviewed and selected from 28 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on combinations of logics, theories, and decision procedures; constraint solving and programming; combination issues in rewriting and programming as well as in logical frameworks and theorem proving systems.

This Festschrift volume, published in honor of Yuri Gurevich on the occasion of his 70th birthday, contains contributions, written by his colleagues. The collection of articles herein begins with an academic biography, an annotated list of Yuri's publications and reports, and a personal tribute by Jan Van den Bussche. These are followed by 28 technical contributions. These articles - though they cover a broad range of topics - represent only a fraction of Yuri Gurevich’s multiple areas of interest.