Semantic integration of heterogeneous software specifications. (Q1428350): Difference between revisions

In October 1998 national German Science Foundation DFG launched a Priority Program on Integration of Software Specification Techniques for Applications in Engineering which entails 13 research projects. The basic idea was to support a multi-paradigm approach to software development inherently related to the subject of the program. Hence, instead of searching for the one language that serves all purposes, established and tailor-made languages were used as the only practicable way. From this situation it becomes immediately clear that questions concerning the integration of these languages and the consistence of the various specifications have to be answered. The book under review is aimed to provide a framework for answering such questions and to support in this way the multi-paradigm approach. The book addresses in the first place the question of what integration means in this context. His starting point to answer this question is to make precise the semantic and methodological aspects which have led to a general semantic integration framework. The book consists of seven chapters. It starts with an ``Introduction''. Here the viewpoint model of systems development, the conceptual integration, and the reference model approach are discussed in more detail. The second chapter, ``Transformation Systems'', introduces transformation systems as formal models of parts of software systems. In the third chapter, ``Specification of Properties'', means for specification of semantic properties are discussed. The forth chapter, ``Development of Transformation Systems'', provides means to support the process of constructing models of software systems. The approach pursued here is again to combine development relations from abstract data type specification and behaviour specification techniques. The fifth chapter, ``Composition of Transformation Systems'', deals with composition techniques to support horizontal decomposition of the modelling task within one development stage. The sixth chapter, ``Applications to UML Software Specifications'', discusses an application of the integration approach to less formal software specifications by means of UML. The final chapter, ``Conclusion'', summarises and discusses the presented theoretical foundation for the integration of hetereogeneous software specification. In the appendix a short introduction to Partial Algebras and Their Specification, references and an index are given.