Toward the specification of programs
William J. Mein · ACM SIGCSE Bulletin · 1977
Much has been written lately on program design using a top down approach, decomposition and stepwise refinement. Most of these methodologies have been grouped under the general rubric of structured programming, see for example Computing Surveys, Vol. 6, Number 4, December 1974. Structured programming does not, however, give many insights into the general area of program specifications. As a result of lack of specifications and having a definite need to write the specifications for a system containing some forty to fifty programs, we developed a set of specifications. This set will be elaborated on more fully in section three, but first I want to elucidate some minor points.