Formal methods - mathematics, theory, recipes or what?

Abstract

The term 'Formal Methods' evokes may different reactions. To some it is seen as 'an unnecessary and over-mathematical level of complication in the program development process' or something which 'is very nice but really has nothing to do with the kind of programs we write'. For many in computing science it is regarded as being an important step to establishing programming as a proper, well-founded engineering discipline, as opposed to the largely intuitive cottage industry from whence it grew. In educational circles it is often, mistakenly, equated with theory and occasionally, by the purists, as an activity which required rather tedious attention to detail but which no longer presents an intellectual challenge - apart from the fact that many practitioners cannot actually apply the technology. This short paper attempts to give some insight into the activities covered by the blanket phrase 'Formal Methods', to clarify some of the terminology used and to place current technology in an evolutionary context. © 1992 The British Computer Society.