An Investigation into the Effect of Students' Use of the CADiZ Tool for Checking Z Formal Specifications

  • Authors:

  • Stewart Green;Jin Sa;Andrew Vince;Julian Webb

  • Affiliations:

  • -;-;-;-

  • Venue:
  • SEEP '96 Proceedings of the 1996 International Conference on Software Engineering: Education and Practice (SE:EP '96)
  • Year:
  • 1996

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Abstract

The authors predicted that the number of typical errors that students make in Z specifications might be reduced if they were to develop them using the CADiZ syntax and type checking tool; and also that such interaction with CADiZ might lead to an increased understanding of Z. To check these predictions a sample of specifications developed using CADiZ was compared with a similar sample developed without CADiZ. In addition, a questionnaire was used to determine the effect of using CADiZ both on students' attitude to formal specification, and on their self-assessed understanding of Z. The results indicate for many students that using CADiZ helped both to reduce the number of typical erors in their specifications, and also led to a more positive attitude towards formal specification.