Using formal methods in safety-critical interactive system design : from architecture-based approaches to tool-based development

Abstract

10p.International audienceAlthough formal methods are increasingly used by researchers in HCI, their usage in actual interactive developments has not been put in practice. In this article, we describe our experience with a specific formal method -the B method- from two viewpoints. On the one hand, we demonstrate how it is possible to use formal methods on real development, from specification to actual code. Our case study concerns a real-time functional core. Doing so, we notice that some HCI concepts, such as architecture models, may have to be adapted or recreated. On the other hand, we show how it is possible to make formal methods easier to use by the way of a complete integration into HCI tools. We conclude in eliciting the lessons learned from this experience