Advancing the state of the practice in formal verification
David Hamilton, Scott French · 9th Computing in Aerospace Conference · 1993
Although formal methods have great potential to improve software quality, their use in practice has grown very slowly. Although transfer of any technology is difficult, there are several reasons why transfer of formal methods technology is particularly difficult. This paper will review general technology transfer problem, lessons learned from previous formal methods projects, and discuss an ongoing effort using a new approach to transfer of formal methods technology. The General Technoloav Transfer Problem Changing way people do their job is at heart of technology transfer. ~ o u l d i n ~ states that the difficulties of implementing a new technology have very little to do with quality of product [technology] itself; rather, they are related to intangible but real obstacles associated with overcoming resistance. In other words, technology transfer is difficult because changing way people do their job is difficult. People tend to dislike change. especially when change forces them to learn new things while they are busy trying to meet existing schedules. Other factors involved in resistance include2: Risk Unless there is a significant problem with current development methods. any change to them involves some risk of making things worse. If it's not broke. don't fix Cost versus Benefit Even if change is risk free, it must also be shown to be cost effective before management will seriously consider it. Educational Shortcomings Traditional classroom education experience is not easily translated into onthe-job-experience. That is. it is often difficult to apply what is learned in classroom to what is done on job. For this reason. educational material that is jobspecific and is provided exactly when needed is often