The increasing importance of formal methods
Stephen Clarke · ITNOW · 1988
Formal methods are still only used by a small few in software engineering. Why is this so? One of the identified ‘crucial areas of technical development’ noted by the Alvey Project is that of Formal Specification. The Alvey Report states that formal methods continue to be one of the most successful parts of the software engineering programme. The companies which have been involved, either directly through projects or indirectly through links with academic teams involved in the programme, are reporting that rigorous mathematical methods in the specification of both hardware and software result in major savings in design and cost. So, as well as the logic of the idea that complex systems should be precisely specified in order to decrease ambiguity and the frequency of errors, there is proof that the use of formal methods in such systems is beneficial in both time and money, Why then are formal methods still the privilege of the enlightened few?