FORMAL TRANSFORMATIONAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS DIRECTED BY OPERATIONAL PROPERTIES EVALUATIONS
Yamine Aït‐Ameur · International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering · 1995
Transformation systems allow us to support developments leading from an initial specification to a final program in a totally formal way. Transformations use valid properties of input objects to produce new equivalent ones. Most transformations use functional properties to increase the efficiency of programs. In doing so, they affect nonfunctional properties, which are usually not formally expressed. The problem we address is to recognize situations in which transformations can be achieved on the basis of the evaluation of a defined, nonfunctional property, and the aim of the present paper is to relate program transformations to nonfunctional properties evaluations. Indeed, a particular transformation tactic can be applied when a given property does not hold. The DEVA language has been used as a support of our experiments in the development of programs.