Formal methods can be defined as follows and, are defined in this way in the encyclopedia of software engineering, j. Product line model check product family entry transition software product line. Conference on software engineering and formal methods, which was held in 2007 in london. Formal methods and analysis in software product line. Feature models are widely used during the whole product line development process and are commonly used as input to produce other assets such as documents, architecture definition. Editorial preface for the jlamp special issue on formal. Software product line engineering sple aims at developing a large number of software systems that share a common and managed set of features 5. In order to achieve these goals, formal methods and analysis are promising approaches, which are best applied throughout the product line lifecycle in order to maximize their overall efficiency and. Chapter 10 of the swebok discusses modeling principles and types, and the methods and tools that are used to develop, analyze, implement, and verify. The use of formal methods approaches can help to eliminate errors early in the design process. Software engineering and formal methods nevery software engineering methodology is based on a recommended development process proceeding through several phases.
If you take the position of this myth, than any problem with formally developed software is a refutation of formal methods usefulness. A classification and survey of analysis strategies for software. Feature models are visually represented by means of feature diagrams. This paper i summarizes the core of modern applied formal methods, ii. Formal methods used in developing computer systems are mathematically based techniques for describing system properties.
Formal methods in software product lines semantic scholar. The reality is that no such guarantee can be given but the usefulness of formal methods does not depend on such absolute perfection. In computer science, specifically software engineering and hardware engineering, formal methods are a particular kind of mathematically based techniques for the specification, development and verification of software and hardware systems. Stages in formal method formal methods can be divided into five 5 main stages. Just as you can take a number of routes to the same destination, software engineering methods are just different kinds of approaches that you follow in order to create and deliver a software product. Software product line engineering how is software product line engineering abbreviated. From software engineering to formal methods and tools, and. The formal methods approach to software engineering.
Most computer scientists and software practitioners, including software product lines researchers, are not exploiting the powerful tools and techniques available in modern formal methods. Product line engineering for automation software systems. Formal methods in software product line engineering abstract. One increasing trend in software development is the need to develop multiple, similar software products instead of just a single individual product. However, software engineering has not followed the same path. Software engineering university of kansas, fall 2007 slide 9 when to use formal methods software development life cycle. Pdf formal methods and analysis in software product line. Formal methods of software design binary theory continued, number theory, character theory 233 by preserve knowledge. Editorial preface for the jlamp special issue on formal methods for software product line engineering. Socalled formal methods of software development are not widely used in industrial software development. Based upon our survey of the literature, software product lines is a fertile research field for the application of formal methods. Softwareproductline engineering aims at providing techniques for efficient. Formal methods for software product line engineering.
Software product line engineering ple is the discipline of creating and managing software product lines. Pdf formal methods could overcome the limitations of current sple practice, ensuring high product quality while decreasing time to market. Proceedings 7th international workshop on formal methods. Analysis strategies for software product lines cmu school of. With the help of this book we hope that you can begin to create your own fast processes. Formal methods and analysis in software product line engineering. Towards modular verification of software product lines with mcrl2. In software product line engineering sple, a portfolio of similar systems is developed from a shared set of software assets.
The objective of the workshop formal methods in software product line engineering fmsple is to bring together researchers and practitioners from the sple community with researchers and practitioners working in the area of formal methods. The essence of a software entity is a construct of interlocking concepts. Css represent software products that require high level of correctness in requirements specification, software design and final product. The creation of new software is accomplished using a selected programming language, and the programming language provides a highly organized, precisely defined means for expression. Claimed benefits of sple include reductions in the portfolio size, cost of software development and time to production, as well as improvements in the quality of the delivered systems. Yet, despite these benefits, sple is still in the early adoption stage. The goal of the conference was to bring practitioners and researchers together to exploit synergies and further the understanding of specialization, abstraction, and verification techniques. Engineering on the other hand, is all about developing products, us ing welldefined, scientific principles and methods. Members of the hats consortium are organizing the 2nd international workshop on formal methods and analysis in software product line engineering fmsple, to be colocated wtih software product line conference 2011 on 26th august in munich. Formal methods in software product line engineering.
Fomal methods and analyses in software product line engineering. Although there has now been more than 30 years of research into the use of mathematical techniques in the software process, these techniques have had a limited impact. By considering a product line portfolio as a single entity to. Formal methods are system design techniques that use rigorously specified mathematical models to build software and hardware systems. Analysis,specification,design,coding,unit testing, integration and system testing, maintenance nformal methods can. Journal of logical and algebraic methods in programming. The software engineer creates formal specifications for this model.
This constitutes a rigorous basis for this ultimate step in software construction. In contrast to other design systems, formal methods use mathematical proof as a complement to system testing in order to ensure correct behavior. From my knowledge, formal methods are used to verify a program with respect to its specifications. Insoftware engineering, especially for the critical systems, program verification plays an import. Along with the increase in software utility, capability, cost, and size there has been a corresponding growth in methods, models, tools, metrics and standards, which support software engineering. Foreword to the special issue on formal methods for software product line engineering. A formal approach to software product families mediatum. Formal methods are mathematically based techniques for specification, development and verification of systems, both hardware and software. The conference focuses in all areas related to formal engineering methods, such as veri.
Formal methods could overcome the limitations of current sple practice, ensuring high product quality while decreasing time to market. Formal methods support in the creation of specifications that describe the true requirements of the user, which are not usually identical to the stated requirements. Software product line engineering sple 5,11 aims to develop a family of. From software engineering to formal methods and tools, and back essays dedicated to stefania gnesi on the occasion of her 65th birthday. In this paper we give an overview of the formal methods and tool used in software engineering. Software engineering features models, methods, tools. Seventh international workshop on formal methods and. Planning and structuring for change is a central theme of fast processes. Software product line engineering sple aims at developing a family of systems via systematic, largescale reuse in order to reduce time to market and costs and to increase product quality. Formal methods and software engineering springerlink. Proceedings 7th international workshop on formal methods and analysis in software product line engineering. Formal methods can be applied at different stages of software development life cycle.
Leveraging applications of formal methods, verification and. Journal of logical and algebraic methods in programming formal. It has also been a key theme in software engineering for many years. Formal methods and analysis in software product line engineering fmsple 2011. Software, when made for a specific requirement is called software product.
Using different formal methods we can help in development of safer and more reliable critical systems. These methods minimize specification errors and this result in fewer errors when the user begins using the system. A systematic approach to the analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of software. Software product line engineering with feature models. Softwareproductline engineering has gained considerable momentum in.
On the basis of the details of the formal methods, some goals may be listed as follows. Software product lines challenge traditional analysis techniques, such as type. The papers address all current issues in formal methods and their applications in software engineering. Formal methods and analysis in software product line engineering fmsple april 3, 2016, eindhoven, the netherlands colocated with etaps 2016 in software product line engineering sple, a portfolio of similar systems is developed from a shared set of software assets. What is a formal methods model in software engineering. The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable ap proach to the development. Pdf formal methods in software product line engineering. Formal methods in software product line engineering article pdf available in computer 442. Formal methods in software product line engineering ieee. We believe that appropriate formal models and methods can provide a suitable backbone in realizing such an approach. Although we can use different approaches combining software product line engineering and formal methods 10 11, we used a modeloriented. Department of computer science and engineering uniti.
They are organized in topical sections on testing, protocols, verification, model checking, objectorientation, eventb, compilation, process algebra, refinement, algebraic specifications and. Software product line engineering software product line engineering sple refers to software engineering methods, tools and techniques for creating a collection of similar software systems from a shared set of software assets using a common means of production. Addressing safety in software product line engineering. Formal method software product line label transition system coverage criterion. Characteristic of this theme is a continuing search for better abstractions. Ple aims at the development of a set of reusable assets and the derivation of particular products as instances of the variants represented in the product line model. In this article, we present the specific issues that arise while addressing safety in the software product line engineering context and discuss wherehow formal methods can provide the necessary techniques to address them. When creating a software there are few engineering stages that is normally be followed to ensure that they software is built within the time and budget.
Formal methods comprise formal specification using mathematics to specify the. In software development, a feature model is a compact representation of all the products of the software product line spl in terms of features. Systems and software product line engineering, abbreviated as product line engineering or ple for short, is defined as the engineering of a portfolio of related products using a shared set of engineering assets and an efficient means of production. Formal specification this is where normal system specification is use and translated using a formal.