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Algebraic specification : syntax, semantics, structure
Algebraic specification is the technique of using algebras to model properties of a system and using axioms to characterize such algebras. Algebraic specification comprises two aspects: the underlying logic used in the axioms and algebras, and the use of a small, general set of operators to build specifications in a structured manner. We describe these two aspects using the unifying notion of institutions. An institution is an abstraction of a logical system, describing the vocabulary, the kinds of axioms, the kinds of algebras, and the relation between them. Using institutions, one can define general structuring operators which are independent of the underlying logic. In this paper, we survey the different kind of logics, syntax, semantics, and structuring operators that have been used in algebraic specification
The foundational legacy of ASL
Abstract. We recall the kernel algebraic specification language ASL and outline its main features in the context of the state of research on algebraic specification at the time it was conceived in the early 1980s. We discuss the most significant new ideas in ASL and the influence they had on subsequent developments in the field and on our own work in particular.
A Process Algebra Software Engineering Environment
In previous work we described how the process algebra based language PSF can
be used in software engineering, using the ToolBus, a coordination architecture
also based on process algebra, as implementation model. In this article we
summarize that work and describe the software development process more formally
by presenting the tools we use in this process in a CASE setting, leading to
the PSF-ToolBus software engineering environment. We generalize the refine step
in this environment towards a process algebra based software engineering
workbench of which several instances can be combined to form an environment
On the implementation of abstract data types by programming language constructs
AbstractImplementations of abstract data types are defined via enrichments of a target type. We propose to use an extended typed λ-calculus for enrichments in order to meet the conceptual requirement that an implementation has to bring us closer to a (functional) program. Composability of implementations is investigated, the main result being that composition of correct implementations is correct if terminating programs are implemented by terminating programs. Moreover, we provide syntactical criteria to guarantee correctness of composition. The proof is based on strong normalization and Church-Rosser results of the extended λ-calculus which seem to be of interest in their own right
Software (Re-)Engineering with PSF II: from architecture to implementation
This paper presents ongoing research on the application of PSF in the field
of software engineering and reengineering. We build a new implementation for
the simulator of the PSF Toolkit starting from the specification in PSF of the
architecture of a simple simulator and extend it with features to obtain the
architecture of a full simulator. We apply refining and constraining techniques
on the specification of the architecture to obtain a specification low enough
to build an implementation from
Adjunctions for exceptions
An algebraic method is used to study the semantics of exceptions in computer
languages. The exceptions form a computational effect, in the sense that there
is an apparent mismatch between the syntax of exceptions and their intended
semantics. We solve this apparent contradiction by efining a logic for
exceptions with a proof system which is close to their syntax and where their
intended semantics can be seen as a model. This requires a robust framework for
logics and their morphisms, which is provided by categorical tools relying on
adjunctions, fractions and limit sketches.Comment: In this Version 2, minor improvements are made to Version
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