Abstract
Formal methods, theoretically a wonderful concept for ensuring a program's correctness, are not widely used in practice. This dichotomy between what theory advocates and practice might be due to programmers' lack of experience with formal methods. To determine if this was the case, a module on Formal Methods was introduced into a graduate course on distributed systems. This module first introduced the students to the theory of formal methods and then required students to program a distributed problem in CCSP, a subset of CSP, using formal methods. The results were abysmal. Students avoided using formal methods. When they did use formal methods, they frequently were unable to come up with their own assertions. Because of these results, it is recommended that formal methods be introduced earlier and in a simpler problem.
Recommended Citation
Arrowsmith, Beth; McMillin, Bruce; and Wilkerson, Ralph, "Formal Methods: How, When, and Why They are Used" (1995). Computer Science Technical Reports. 187.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/comsci_techreports/187
Department(s)
Computer Science
Report Number
CSc-95-10
Document Type
Technical Report
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 1995 University of Missouri - Rolla, All rights reserved
Publication Date
1 October, 1995
Comments
The first Authos is a Graduate Student.
Supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers MSS-9216479 and CDA-9222827, and, in part, from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under contract number F49620-92-J-0546 and F49620-93-l-0409, and, in part by a grant from the University of Missouri Research Board.