Toward Zero-Defect Programming describes current methods for writing (nearly) bug-free programs. These methods are based on practices developed at IBM and elsewhere under the name Cleanroom Software Engineering. The successful application of these methods in commercial projects over the past fifteen years has produced defect rates that are, at least, an order of magnitude lower than industry averages. Remarkably, this reduction in defects comes at no net cost; on the contrary, it is often accompanied by increased productivity and shorter overall development time!
In a concise and well-illustrated presentation, Stavely shows how these methods can be applied in three key areas of software development:
specification
verification
testing.
Requiring formal specifications, and requiring that the code be proved mathematically to agree with the specifications, forces software engineers to program more simply and more clearly, eliminating many defects as a consequence. Performing verification as part of a team process uncovers additional defects and encourages careful examination of the program for efficiency and other quality aspects. Testing the program, to compensate for human fallibility in the preceding steps, catches (nearly) all remaining bugs.
Highlights
Explains Cleanroom methods for developing high-quality software.
Encourages a team process for program verification.
Illustrates the importance of incremental development.
The author departs somewhat from IBM Cleanroom methods in simplifying the procedures that readers must learn. His aim is to make specification and verification readily accessible to any student or practitioner who can write well-structured programs. No great mathematical sophistication is assumed. Although the books examples are written in a number of programming languages to explain different points, the largest number are in C; therefore, a prior knowledge of C is useful.
Allan M. Stavely was a faculty member in the Computer Science Department at New Mexico Tech for more than twenty years. He has also been a visiting staff member at IBM Research in San Jose, California; at Hewlett-Packard Labs in Bristol, England; and at IBM UK Laboratories at Hursley Park, Winchester, England. Much of his teaching, and most of his research, have focused on software engineering, formal methods, and improved methods of programming in general. Dr. Stavely is now an independent consultant, and can be reached at astavely@acm.org; he has web pages at http://www.nmt.edu/~astavely.
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