Abstract:
Almost half of a century has passed since Robert W. Floyd published the first research
that explicitly discussed formally how to assign meaning to programs. But recently David L. Parnas have
called Really Rethinking "Formal Methods", to question the assumptions underlying the well-known
current formal software development methods to see why they have not been widely adopted and what
should be changed. So, things are right where they started decades ago?
Not at all, since industrial applications of Formal Methods are not the unique measure of success.
Another dimension where we can discuss utility of Formal Methods could be better education. A very
popular (in Russia) aphorism of Mikhail Lomonosov (the first Russian academician) says: "Mathematics
should be learned just because it disciplines and bring up the mind". Similarly, Formal Methods discipline
and bring up minds in Computer Science. and help to bridge a "cultural gap" (E.W.Dijkstra) between
Mathematics and Computer Science.
Submission guide