Towards a Well-Founded UML-based Development Method

This paper presents an attempt, perhaps unorthodox, at bridging the gap between the use of formal techniques and the current software engineering practices. After years of full immersion in the development and use of formal techniques, we have been led to suggest a Virtuous Cycle philosophy, better marrying the rigour of formalities to the needs and, why not, the wisdom of current practices. What we have called Well-Founded Software Development Methods is a strategy compliant with that philosophy, that essentially aims at proposing methods where the formalities provide the foundational rigour, and perhaps may inspire new techniques, but are kept hidden from the user