A technique for software module specification with examples
Communications of the ACM
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A research program is underway with the purpose of developing a system to integrate the functions of Design, Programming, Debugging and Testing (DPDT) for achieving software reliability. Although we are aiming at developing an actual for realized system for this purpose, emphasis is being placed on the isolation of general principles that can be applied to a variety of programming environments. We are defining a model of computation through which the design phase will be formally described.1 The model will be required to handle a basic definition of modularity besides having features to be integrated with: a class of Algol-like languages (in which programs are to be written), the debugging facilities defined in the language, and a class of program testing strategies. Extensions to a programming language will be defined so as to make it support the requirements of the design model2 and to provide debugging facilities compatible with the design phase and measurements. The measurements will be handled by the systems testing phase for the establishment of some quantitative indices of test completeness. The testing activity will in turn reflect on the design and provoke iterations until a “sufficient verification” of the produced software is met.