Providing a thorough treatment of most elementary program development techniques, this revised edition covers topics such as procedures, parameters, recursion and data refinement, with the integration of specification, development and coding, based on ordinary (classical) logic.
Topics • what this book is about, • its intended audience, • what the reader ought to know, • how the book is organized, • acknowledgements. Specifications express information about a program that is not normally part of the program, and often cannot be expressed in a programming lan guage. In the past, the word "specification" has sometimes been used to refer to somewhat vague documentation written in English. But today it indicates a precise statement, written in a machine processable language, about the purpose and behavior of a program. Specifications are written in languages that are just as precise as programming languages, but have additional capabilities that increase their power of expression. The termi nology formal specification is sometimes used to emphasize the modern meaning. For us, all specifications are formal. The use of specifications as an integral part of a program opens up a whole new area of programming - progmmming with specifications. This book describes how to use specifications in the process of building programs, debugging them, and interfacing them with other programs. It deals with a new trend in programming - the evolution of specification languages from the current generation of programming languages. And it describes new strategies and styles of programming that utilize specifications. The trend is just beginning, and the reader, having finished this book, will viii Preface certainly see that there is much yet to be done and to be discovered about programming with specifications.
A feature of modern advanced computing is the functional approach to programming. In this book, the authors present an introduction to the mathematics which underline functional programming, emphasizing the understanding of definition and specification--a prerequisite of good programming and problem solving with a computer. The book is self-contained, requiring a low level of mathematical sophistication and may be used as an introduction to the mathematics of programming.Provides an introduction to the functional approach to programming**Emphasizes the problem to be solved, not the programming language**Takes the view that all computer programs are a definition of a function**Includes exercises for each chapter**Can be used as a pre-programming language introduction to the mathematics of computing.
Building software often seems harder than it ought to be. It takes longer than expected, the software's functionality and performance are not as wonderful as hoped, and the software is not particularly malleable or easy to maintain. It does not have to be that way. This book is about programming, and the role that formal specifications can play in making programming easier and programs better. The intended audience is practicing programmers and students in undergraduate or basic graduate courses in software engineering or formal methods. To make the book accessible to such an audience, we have not presumed that the reader has formal training in mathematics or computer science. We have, however, presumed some programming experience. The roles of fonnal specifications Designing software is largely a matter of combining, inventing, and planning the implementation of abstractions. The goal of design is to describe a set of modules that interact with one another in simple, well defined ways. If this is achieved, people will be able to work independently on different modules, and yet the modules will fit together to accomplish the larger purpose. In addition, during program maintenance it will be possible to modify a module without affecting many others. Abstractions are intangible. But they must somehow be captured and communicated. That is what specifications are for. Specification gives us a way to say what an abstraction is, independent of any of its implementations.
"The main aim of this monograph is to provide a framework for the integrated design of object-oriented programs with algebraic specification techniques. The design method pursued relies fundamentally on the structuring of systems based on the notion of data types. Depending on the level of abstraction, data types are described in an object-oriented way by algebraic specifications or by machine-executable object-oriented programs. The treatment involves two main aspects. First, object-oriented programs have to be related by a notion of correctness that models the transition from specifications to program implementations. The author presents a notion of correctness which relies on the idea of abstraction functions. Second, in order to obtain an integrated design environment, a uniform structuring concept for object oriented programs and algebraic specifications has to be provided. Inheritance, subtyping and clientship are three central notions of object-oriented structuring. Theauthor uses them to develop the kernel of a typed object- oriented programming language. The monograph provides the formal foundation for a unified framework of algebraic specifications and object-oriented programs. A major guideline is the development of a design method supporting the structured design and reuse of software in this environment."--PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE.
This book provides foundations for software specification and formal software development from the perspective of work on algebraic specification, concentrating on developing basic concepts and studying their fundamental properties. These foundations are built on a solid mathematical basis, using elements of universal algebra, category theory and logic, and this mathematical toolbox provides a convenient language for precisely formulating the concepts involved in software specification and development. Once formally defined, these notions become subject to mathematical investigation, and this interplay between mathematics and software engineering yields results that are mathematically interesting, conceptually revealing, and practically useful. The theory presented by the authors has its origins in work on algebraic specifications that started in the early 1970s, and their treatment is comprehensive. This book contains five kinds of material: the requisite mathematical foundations; traditional algebraic specifications; elements of the theory of institutions; formal specification and development; and proof methods. While the book is self-contained, mathematical maturity and familiarity with the problems of software engineering is required; and in the examples that directly relate to programming, the authors assume acquaintance with the concepts of functional programming. The book will be of value to researchers and advanced graduate students in the areas of programming and theoretical computer science.
Unique approach tackles what most books don't-why maths and logic are fundamental tools for a programmer This comprehensive guide is a balanced combination of mathematical theory and the practice of programming Straightforward presentation of construction principles inlcuding: assignment axiom, sequential composition, case analysis, use of invariants and bound functions Includes a wide range of entertaining and challenging examples and exercises
Answer set programming (ASP) is a programming methodology oriented towards combinatorial search problems. In such a problem, the goal is to find a solution among a large but finite number of possibilities. The idea of ASP came from research on artificial intelligence and computational logic. ASP is a form of declarative programming: an ASP program describes what is counted as a solution to the problem, but does not specify an algorithm for solving it. Search is performed by sophisticated software systems called answer set solvers. Combinatorial search problems often arise in science and technology, and ASP has found applications in diverse areas—in historical linguistic, in bioinformatics, in robotics, in space exploration, in oil and gas industry, and many others. The importance of this programming method was recognized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in 2016, when AI Magazine published a special issue on answer set programming. The book introduces the reader to the theory and practice of ASP. It describes the input language of the answer set solver CLINGO, which was designed at the University of Potsdam in Germany and is used today by ASP programmers in many countries. It includes numerous examples of ASP programs and present the mathematical theory that ASP is based on. There are many exercises with complete solutions.
Summary Writing Great Specifications is an example-rich tutorial that teaches you how to write good Gherkin specification documents that take advantage of the benefits of specification by example. Foreword written by Gojko Adzic. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology The clearest way to communicate a software specification is to provide examples of how it should work. Turning these story-based descriptions into a well-organized dev plan is another matter. Gherkin is a human-friendly, jargon-free language for documenting a suite of examples as an executable specification. It fosters efficient collaboration between business and dev teams, and it's an excellent foundation for the specification by example (SBE) process. About the Book Writing Great Specifications teaches you how to capture executable software designs in Gherkin following the SBE method. Written for both developers and non-technical team members, this practical book starts with collecting individual feature stories and organizing them into a full, testable spec. You'll learn to choose the best scenarios, write them in a way that anyone can understand, and ensure they can be easily updated by anyone.management. What's Inside Reading and writing Gherkin Designing story-based test cases Team Collaboration Managing a suite of Gherkin documents About the Reader Primarily written for developers and architects, this book is accessible to any member of a software design team. About the Author Kamil Nicieja is a seasoned engineer, architect, and project manager with deep expertise in Gherkin and SBE. Table of contents Introduction to specification by example and Gherkin PART 1 - WRITING EXECUTABLE SPECIFICATIONS WITH EXAMPLES The specification layer and the automation layer Mastering the Given-When-Then template The basics of scenario outlines Choosing examples for scenario outlines The life cycle of executable specifications Living documentation PART 2 - MANAGING SPECIFICATION SUITES Organizing scenarios into a specification suite Refactoring features into abilities and business needs Building a domain-driven specification suite Managing large projects with bounded contexts
Summary Specification by Example is an emerging practice for creating software based on realistic examples, bridging the communication gap between business stakeholders and the dev teams building the software. In this book, author Gojko Adzic distills interviews with successful teams worldwide, sharing how they specify, develop, and deliver software, without defects, in short iterative delivery cycles. About the Technology Specification by Example is a collaborative method for specifying requirements and tests. Seven patterns, fully explored in this book, are key to making the method effective. The method has four main benefits: it produces living, reliable documentation; it defines expectations clearly and makes validation efficient; it reduces rework; and, above all, it assures delivery teams and business stakeholders that the software that's built is right for its purpose. About the Book This book distills from the experience of leading teams worldwide effective ways to specify, test, and deliver software in short, iterative delivery cycles. Case studies in this book range from small web startups to large financial institutions, working in many processes including XP, Scrum, and Kanban. This book is written for developers, testers, analysts, and business people working together to build great software. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book. What's Inside Common process patterns How to avoid bad practices Fitting SBE in your process 50+ case studies =============================================== Table of Contents Part 1 Getting started Part 2 Key process patterns Part 3 Case studies Key benefits Key process patterns Living documentation Initiating the changes Deriving scope from goals Specifying collaboratively Illustrating using examples Refining the specification Automating validation without changing specifications Validating frequently Evolving a documentation system uSwitch RainStor Iowa Student Loan Sabre Airline Solutions ePlan Services Songkick Concluding thoughts