Using Formal Description Techniques

This book presents the latest research in formal techniques for distributed systems, including material on theory, applications, tools and industrial usage of formal techniques.

This book is the combined proceedings of the latest IFIP Formal Description Techniques (FDTs) and Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification (PSTV) series. It addresses FDTs applicable to communication protocols and distributed systems, with special emphasis on standardised FDTs. It features state-of-the-art in theory, application, tools and industrialisation of formal description.

Formal Description Techniques and Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification addresses formal description techniques (FDTs) applicable to distributed systems and communication protocols. It aims to present the state of the art in theory, application, tools and industrialization of FDTs. Among the important features presented are: FDT-based system and protocol engineering; FDT-application to distributed systems; Protocol engineering; Practical experience and case studies. Formal Description Techniques and Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification comprises the proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Formal Description Techniques for Distributed Systems and Communication Protocols and Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing, held in November 1998, Paris, France. Formal Description Techniques and Protocol Specification, Testing and Verification is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate-level course on Distributed Systems or Communications, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.

Deliberately non-mathematical, this user-friendly tutorial contains extensive introductory information on formal methods and the three Formal Description Techniques (FDTs). Easy-to-follow instructions demonstrate how to develop specifications and implementations using FDTs. Features valuable material on existing tools and gives references to publications, workshops, conferences and symposia where you can obtain the latest information on FDTs, their applications and tools. Copiously illustrated with examples.

FORTE/PSTV '97 addresses Formal Description Techniques (FDTs) applicable to Distributed Systems and Communication Protocols (such as Estelle, LOTOS, SDL, ASN.1, TTCN, Z, Automata, Process Algebra, Logic). The conference is a forum for presentation of the state-of-the-art in theory, application, tools and industrialization of FDTs, and provides an excellent orientation for newcomers.

This book is the sixth in a series of volumes concentrating on formal techniques applicable to distributed systems and protocols. The initial focus on techniques standardized by ISO and CCITT (Estelle, LOTOS, and SDL), widened in previous volumes to, for example, CCS, CSP, ASN.1, Z, Actor, VDM and RAISE, is yet again expanded. A strong theoretical component is balanced by a practical one, with papers included from the industrial as well as the academic communities. Offering a comprehensive presentation of the state of the art in theory, application, tools and industrialization of formal techniques, the publication provides an excellent orientation for the newcomer . By bringing together both researchers and practitioners, it also opens the communication between these groups vital for a continued cross-fertilization of knowledge and ideas for the future.

This book provides a comprehensive collection of methods and approaches for using formal methods within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, the use of which is a prerequisite for usability and user-experience (UX) when engineering interactive systems. World-leading researchers present methods, tools and techniques to design and develop reliable interactive systems, offering an extensive discussion of the current state-of-the-art with case studies which highlight relevant scenarios and topics in HCI as well as presenting current trends and gaps in research and future opportunities and developments within this emerging field. The Handbook of Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction is intended for HCI researchers and engineers of interactive systems interested in facilitating formal methods into their research or practical work.

The last few years have borne witness to a remarkable diversity of formal methods, with applications to sequential and concurrent software, to real-time and reactive systems, and to hardware design. In that time, many theoretical problems have been tackled and solved, and many continue to be worked upon. Yet it is by the suitability of their industrial application and the extent of their usage that formal methods will ultimately be judged. This volume presents the proceedings of the first international symposium of Formal Methods Europe, FME'93. The symposium focuses on the application of industrial-strength formal methods. Authors address the difficulties of scaling their techniques up to industrial-sized problems, and their suitability in the workplace, and discuss techniques that are formal (that is, they have a mathematical basis) and that are industrially applicable. The volume has four parts: - Invited lectures, containing a lecture by Cliff B. Jones and a lecture by Antonio Cau and Willem-Paul de Roever; - Industrial usage reports, containing 6 reports; - Papers, containing 32 selected and refereedpapers; - Tool descriptions, containing 11 descriptions.