To Be and Not to Be: On Managing Inconsistency in Software Development

  • Authors:
  • Bashar Nuseibeh

  • Affiliations:
  • Department of Computing, Imperial College, 180 Queen's Gate, London SW7 2BZ, UK

  • Venue:
  • IWSSD '96 Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Software Specification and Design
  • Year:
  • 1996

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

The development of software systems involves the detection and handling of inconsistencies. These inconsistencies arise in system requirements, design specifications and, quite often, in the descriptions that form the final implemented software product. This paper presents a critical review of approaches that explicitly tolerate and manage inconsistencies, and explores different kinds of inconsistencies that arise during different stages of software development. Managing inconsistency refers not only to the detection and removal of inconsistencies, but also to activities that facilitate continued development in their presence. Such activities include procedures for controlled amelioration or avoidance of inconsistency, which in turn may require analysis and reasoning in the presence of inconsistency.