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Fiscal 1994 Project Portfolio Report
Alberto Savoia, Principal Investigator
alberto.savoia@Eng.Sun.COM
Overall Objective
To research and prototype technology and tools to improve software quality,
performance, productivity and ease-of-use.
PrimaVera
Objective for FY94
To transfer PrimaVera's basic technology to the rest of the industry through the Assertion Definition Language (ADL) project.
Description
The introduction of formal methods in the software development process will
greatly improve software quality and productivity. Formal methods are also the
basis for automation, which can lead to even greater improvements in quality
and productivity.
Before our vision can be implemented we must be able to answer affirmatively
the following research questions:
- Can formal languages and methods be simplified to the point that the
average engineer can take advantage of them?
- Do formal specifications lead to better and/or faster design and
implementation?
- Can we develop an automated test generation technology, based on formal
specifications, which is more efficient than today's predominantly manual
test generation?
The PrimaVera group was chosen by a committee (driven by X/Open(TM) and
partially supported by MITI), to enter into a research contract to further
develop our technology and turn it into an industry standard called ADL. The
ADL project and the PrimaVera project share a lot of common goals, and for the
first three quarters of FY94 they worked together on the design and prototype
development of a specification language and an automated test generator based
on PrimaVera technology. In the fourth quarter, the PrimaVera group engaged
in more research to extend ADL and to develop the high-level design for three
additional test generators. We are trying to address the following:
- Can an effective random test generator, one which requires minimal user
directives, be built on the ADL architecture?
- How can interface specifications, written assuming a single thread of
control, be used to test the interface's behavior in a multi-threaded
environment?
- How can our current specification language be extended to specify the
behavior of interacting operations?
Accomplishments
The transfer of PrimaVera technology to the ADL project was extremely
successful. Thanks to the contribution of PrimaVera researchers, ADL was able
to meet extremely aggressive deadlines, surpassing the most optimistic
expectations of our customers in terms of features and quality.
In the process of designing the random test generator, Jos Marlowe hit upon
the very interesting concept of pragmatics and their application to the PrimaVera specification and testing model, and to this generator. In the true spirit of research, we shifted our focus from solving the random test generator problem to coming up with a much more general solution.
ADL
Objectives for FY94
To design and develop ADL and deliver version 0.3 of the ADL Translator
(ADLT).
Description
The PrimaVera group was chosen by a committee (driven by X/Open(TM) and
partially supported by MITI), to enter into a research contract to further
develop our technology and turn it into an industry standard called ADL. In FY94 ADL researchers collaborated with PrimaVera researchers to export
PrimaVera technology to the ADL project.
Accomplishments
The ADL project met or exceeded all contract requirements, delivering all
designs, documents and implementations on or ahead of schedule and
surpassing our expectations in every respect.
The following is a partial list of deliverables produced by the ADL team:
- ADLT Design Specification
- ADL Language Reference Manual
- ADL User's Guide
- ADL Programmer's Guide
- ADLT Version 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3
References
Publications
"Specifying and Testing Software Components Using ADL," S. Sankar, R.
Hayes, X/Open, Japan 1993, SMLI 93-0344.
"ADL--An Interface Definition Language for Specifying and Testing Software,"
S. Sankar, R. Hayes, X/Open Workshop 1993, SMLI 93-0345.
"Specifying and Testing Software Components Using ADL," S. Sankar, R.
Hayes, SMLI TR-94-23.
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