Guidelines for formalizing Fusion object-oriented analysis models

Abstract

The growing interest in object-oriented analysis and design methods (OOMs) in the software development industry can be attributed to the support they give to some of the more significant software engineering principles, for example, separation of concerns and generality. On the other hand, most OOMs, like their structured analysis and design predecessors, produce models that are not amenable to rigorous semantic analyses. This problem can be attributed to the lack of firm semantic bases for the modeling notations and concepts. In this paper we show how a particular OOM, the Fusion analysis method, can be made more formal while preserving its essential qualities. Our approach involves integrating the Z formal specification style with the Fusion method. The result is an OOM that produces semantically analyzable Fusion models of behavior at the requirements level.