A Formal Method for the Abstract Specification of Software

Abstract

An intuitive presentation of the trace method for the abstract specification of software contains sample specifications, syntactic and semantic definitions of consistency and totalness, methods for proving specifications consistent and total, and a comparison of the method with the algebraic approach to specification. This intuitive presentation is underpinned by a formal syntax, semantics, and derivation system for the method. Completeness and soundness theorems establish the correctness of the derivation system with respect to the semantics, the coextensiveness of the syntactic definitions of consistency and totalness with their semantic counterparts, and the correctness of the proof methods presented. Areas for future research are discussed.