SynopsisThis book is intended to help the student or the engineer who wants an intro duction to formal techniques, as well as the practitioner who wishes to broaden her or his knowledge of this subject. It mainly aims at providing a synthetic view of the logical foundations of such techniques, with an emphasis on in tuitive ideas, so that it can also be considered as a practical complement to classical introductory manuals to logic, which generally focus more detail on specific subjects (e.g. first-order logic), and to books dedicated to particular formal methods. This book is a translation of the French edition Introduction aux methodes formelles, published by Hermes in 2000. The contents have been updated and somewhat clarified, in particular the discussion of typing which is now at the beginning of Chapter 10. Many colleagues, researchers, and friends, have had an influence on the form and the content of this text, either through direct comments or enthralling discussions. I would like to cite: Jean-Raymond Abrial, Andre Arnold, Yves Bertot, Michel Cartier, Paul Caspi, Christine Choppy, Thierry Coquand, Vin cent Danos, Pierre Desforges, Gilles Dowek, Jean-Christophe Filliatre, Lau rent Fribourg, Roland Groz, Nicolas Halbwachs, Claude Jard, Gilles Kahn, Claude and Helene Kirchner, Emmanuel Ledinot, Pierre Lescanne, Fernando Meijia, Max Michel, Kathleen Milsted, Chetan Murthy, Christine Paulin, Si mon Pickin, Laurent Regnier, John Rushby, Natarajan Shankar, Joseph Sifakis, Jean-Bernard Stefani and Daniel Vincent., This is an excellent introduction to formal methods which will bring anyone who needs to know about this important topic up to speed. It is comprehensive, giving the reader all the information needed to explore the field of formal methods in more detail. It offers: a guide to the mathematics required; comprehensive but easy-to-understand introductions to various methods; a run-down of how formal methods can help to develop high-quality systems that come in on time, within budget, and according to requirements.
LC Classification NumberQA75.5-76.95