Verifying Component-Based Software: Deep Mathematics or Simple Bookkeeping?

  • Authors:

  • Jason Kirschenbaum;Bruce Adcock;Derek Bronish;Hampton Smith;Heather Harton;Murali Sitaraman;Bruce W. Weide

  • Affiliations:

  • The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA 43210;The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA 43210;The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA 43210;Clemson University, Clemson, USA;Clemson University, Clemson, USA;Clemson University, Clemson, USA;The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA 43210

  • Venue:
  • ICSR '09 Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Software Reuse: Formal Foundations of Reuse and Domain Engineering
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Anecdotal experience constructing proofs of correctness of code built from reusable software components reveals that they tend to be relatively trivial bookkeeping exercises: they rarely require a substantive mathematical deduction. A careful empirical analysis of hundreds of verification conditions (VCs) for a library of component-client code shows the level of sophistication each proof requires, and suggests how to use the results to characterize a notion of mathematical "obviousness."