Case study on graphical and formal specification techniques / Dan Dan.
Dan. Dan · The University of Queensland · 2000
Software engineers often stress the importance of preparing software specifications, which is the very first step in the software development life cycle. 111defined specification may cause loss of money, time, or even human life. More than twenty-five percent of defects in software projects are caused by ill-defined specifications [Grady, 1994]. The study of software requirements and specifications has evolved into two main streams: formal modelling techniques based on mathematics; and graphical methods based on well-developed diagrams. Each of these two methods has its limitations. Formal methods proponents often criticize informal method for their lack of precision and inability to capture requirements elegantly. Conversely, graphical-methods proponents argue that formal specification techniques are not well integrated with requirement analysis and cannot be applied to industry easily because the notation is hard to read.This thesis studies these two types of notation to gain insights that will furnish a proposal of integrate formal and informal methods and thus lead to improvements in these notations. The goal is to find the best way of combine the two techniques, thereby enhancing the strength and rending the limitation of both. This thesis applies graphical notations and formal modeling techniques to a generic Maintenance Scheduling System case study.