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Informal, semi-formal, and formal approaches to the specification of software requirements Wong Cheng In, Marie Hélène LinLee.
Abstract
The derivation of a specification document that is understandable, precise and unambiguous is indispensable to successful software development. This work investigates the advantages and disadvantages of four different specification approaches which vary in their degree of formality. The thesis outlines qualities of a good specification. An example requirements specification of a case study system is produced using each technique. The four specification approaches are ad hoc natural language approach (informal), threadsbased technique (structured informal), Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) methodology Structured Analysis (semi-formal), and the mathematical notation Z (formal). The specification techniques are compared based on their likelihood to produce a specification document which is useful to customers, design engineers, test engineers, and maintenance personnel. The main conclusion is that using techniques that provide both a high degree of guidance and process description for deriving the specification is critical to achieve high quality specifications. Hence, a good specification technique must inherently have guidelines that facilitate the specification of requirements in an understandable, precise and unambiguous manner.
Item Metadata
Title |
Informal, semi-formal, and formal approaches to the specification of software requirements
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1994
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Description |
The derivation of a specification document that is understandable, precise and unambiguous is indispensable to successful software development. This work investigates
the advantages and disadvantages of four different specification approaches which vary in their degree of formality. The thesis outlines qualities of a good specification. An example requirements specification of a case study system is produced using each technique. The
four specification approaches are ad hoc natural language approach (informal), threadsbased technique (structured informal), Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) methodology Structured Analysis (semi-formal), and the mathematical notation Z (formal). The specification techniques are compared based on their likelihood to produce a specification document which is useful to customers, design engineers, test engineers,
and maintenance personnel. The main conclusion is that using techniques that provide both a high degree of
guidance and process description for deriving the specification is critical to achieve high quality specifications. Hence, a good specification technique must inherently have guidelines that facilitate the specification of requirements in an understandable, precise and unambiguous manner.
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Extent |
14395178 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-03-06
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0051578
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1994-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.