Using formal methods to support testing

Formal methods and testing are two important approaches that assist in the development of high quality software. While traditionally these approaches have been seen as rivals, in recent years a new consensus has developed in which they are seen as complementary. This article reviews the state of the art regarding ways in which the presence of a formal specification can be used to assist testing

Research On and Activities For Mathematically Gifted Students

This Topical Survey offers a brief overview of the current state of research on and activities for mathematically gifted students around the world. This is of interest to a broad readership, including educational researchers, research mathematicians, mathematics teachers, teacher educators, curriculum designers, doctoral students, and other stakeholders. It first discusses research concerning the nature of mathematical giftedness, including theoretical frameworks and methodologies that are helpful in identifying and/or creating mathematically gifted students, which is described in this section. It also focuses on research on and the development of mathematical talent and innovation in students, including connections between cognitive, social and affective aspects of mathematically gifted students. Exemplary teaching and learning practices, curricula and a variety of programs that contribute to the development of mathematical talent, gifts, and passion are described as well as the pedagogy and mathematics content suitable for educating pre-service and in-service teachers of mathematically gifted students. The final section provides a brief summary of the paper along with suggestions for the research, activities, and resources that should be available to support mathematically gifted students and their teachers, parents, and other stakeholders

Reinforced Condition/Decision Coverage (RC/DC): A New Criterion for Software Testing

A new Reinforced Condition/Decision Coverage (RC/DC) criterion for software testing is proposed. This criterion provides further development of the well-known Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC) criterion and is more suitable for testing of safety-critical software. Formal definitions in the Z notation for RC/DC, as well as MC/DC, are presented. Specific examples of using of these criteria are considered and some features are formally proved

Consistency preserving co-evolution of formal specifications and agent-oriented conceptual models

Many modelling techniques tend to address ''late-phase'' requirements while many critical modelling decisions (such as determining the main goals of the system, how the stakeholders depend on each other, and what alternatives exist) are taken during early-phase requirements engineering. The i^* modelling framework is a semiformal agent-oriented conceptual modelling language that is well-suited for answering these questions. This paper addresses key challenge faced in the practical deployment of agent-oriented conceptual modelling frameworks such as i^*. Our approach to addressing this problem is based on the observation that the value of conceptual modelling in the i^* framework lies in its use as a notation complementary to existing requirements modelling and specification languages, i.e., the expressive power of i^* complements rather than supplants that of existing notations. The use of i^* in this fashion requires that we define methodologies that support the co-evolution of i^* models with more traditional specifications. This research examines how this might be done with formal specification notations (specifically Z)

Formalization and assessment of regulatory requirements

for safety-critical softwar