Teaching Formal Methods

1. Front Matter

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2. A Beginner’s Course on Reasoning About Imperative Programs

   • Kung-Kiu Lau

   Pages 1-16

3. Designing Algorithms in High School Mathematics

   • Sylvia da Rosa

   Pages 17-31

4. Motivating Study of Formal Methods in the Classroom

   • Joy N. Reed, Jane E. Sinclair

   Pages 32-46

5. Formal Systems, Not Methods

   • Martin Loomes, Bruce Christianson, Neil Davey

   Pages 47-64

6. A Practice-Oriented Course on the Principles of Computation, Programming, and System Design and Analysis

   • Egon Börger

   Pages 65-84

7. Teaching How to Derive Correct Concurrent Programs from State-Based Specifications and Code Patterns

   • Manuel Carro, Julio Mariño, Ángel Herranz, Juan José Moreno-Navarro

   Pages 85-106

8. Specification-Driven Design with Eiffel and Agents for Teaching Lightweight Formal Methods

   • Richard F. Paige, Jonathan S. Ostroff

   Pages 107-123

9. Integrating Formal Specification and Software Verification and Validation

   • Roger Duke, Tim Miller, Paul Strooper

   Pages 124-139

10. Distributed Teaching of Formal Methods

    • Peter Pepper

    Pages 140-152

11. An Undergraduate Course on Protocol Engineering – How to Teach Formal Methods Without Scaring Students

    • Manuel J. Fernández-Iglesias, Martín Llamas-Nistal

    Pages 153-165

12. Linking Paradigms, Semi-formal and Formal Notations

    • Henri Habrias, Sébastien Faucou

    Pages 166-184

13. Teaching Formal Methods in Context

    • Jim Davies, Andrew Simpson, Andrew Martin

    Pages 185-202

14. Embedding Formal Development in Software Engineering

    • Ken Robinson

    Pages 203-213

15. Advertising Formal Methods and Organizing Their Teaching: Yes, but ...

    • Dino Mandrioli

    Pages 214-224

16. Retrospect and Prospect of Formal Methods Education in China

    • Baowen Xu, Yingzhou Zhang, Yanhui Li

    Pages 225-234

17. A Survey of Formal Methods Courses in European Higher Education

    • J. N. Oliveira

    Pages 235-248

18. Back Matter

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“Professional engineers can often be distinguished from other designers by the engineers’ ability to use mathematical models to describe and 1 analyze their products.” This observation by Parnas describes the de facto professional standards in all classical engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.). Unf- tunately, it is in sharp contrast with current (industrial) practice in software design, where mathematical models are hardly used at all, even by those who, 2 in Holloway’s words “aspire to be engineers.” The rare exceptions are certain critical applications, where mathematical techniques are used under the general name formal methods. Yet,thesamecharacteristicsthatmakeformalmethodsanecessityincritical applicationsmakethemalsoadvantageousineverydaysoftwaredesignatvarious levels from design e?ciency to software quality. Why, then, is education failing with respect to formal methods? – failing to convince students, academics and practitioners alike that formal methods are truly pragmatic; – failing to overcome a phobia of formality and mathematics; – failing to provide students with the basic skills and understanding required toadoptamoremathematicalandlogicalapproachtosoftwaredevelopment. Until education takes these failings seriously, formal methods will be an obscure byway in software engineering, which in turn will remain severely impoverished as a result.

• Eiffel
• algorithems design
• algorithmics
• algorithms
• calculus
• computer science education
• formal method
• formal methods
• formal specification
• learning
• metaprogramming
• programming
• software design
• systems design
• verification
• data structures

• Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge, UK

  C. Neville Dean

• INTEC, Universiteit Gent, Belgium

  Raymond T. Boute

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