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Abstract : |
Standards concerned with the development of safety-critical systems, and the software in such systems in particular, abound today as the software crisis increasingly affects the world of embedded computer-based systems. The use of formal methods is often advocated as a way of increasing confidence in such systems. This paper examines the industrial use of these techniques, the recommendations concerning formal methods in a number of current and draft standards, and comments on the applicability and problems of using formal methods for the development of safety-critical systems of an industrial scale. Some possible future directions are suggested. 1 A Brief Historical Perspective Lives have depended on mathematical calculations for centuries. In the 19th century, the scientific community was facing the `tables crisis ' [144] due to the problem of errors in numerical tables such as logarithms and navigation tables, calculated by human `computers'. It was rumoured that ships had been wrecked as a result of such errors. Charles Babbage was so concerned that he decided to try to alleviate the situation by attempting to mechanize the process of generating such, |
