The Way of Z
Practical Programming with Formal Methods
Published on 28. November 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
372 pages
978-0-521-55976-8 (ISBN)
Description
This 1997 book is a self-contained tutorial on Z, a formal notation for modelling, specifying and designing computer systems and software, for experienced professionals and serious students in programming and software engineering. It presents realistic case studies emphasising safety-critical systems, with examples drawn from embedded controls, real-time and concurrent programming, computer graphics, games, text processing, databases, artificial intelligence, and object-oriented programming. It motivates the use of formal methods and discusses practical issues concerning how to apply them in real projects. It also teaches how to apply formal program derivation and verification to implement Z specifications in real programming languages with examples in C. The book includes exercises with solutions, reference materials, and a guide to further reading.
Reviews / Votes
'... this reviewer cannot imagine a book better suited to inspiring the sceptical hacker into believing that there is some genuine value in formal methods.' R. H. Banach, Axis '... most books about Z emphasise the mathematics, ... The Way of Z breaks out of this mould to make Z relevant and accessible to all programmers. It is an ideal first or second-year book for students of computing science who want to design and write reliable programs.' Harold Thimbleby, New Scientist '... especially good for more advanced students ... this book will be inspirational and provide practical guidance to real software engineers.' Computer JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 191 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
694 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-55976-8 (9780521559768)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/1996
Cambridge University Press
€80.47
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Previous edition
Book
11/1996
Cambridge University Press
€80.47
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Content
Part I. Why Z?: 1. Formal methods; 2. Why use formal methods?; 3. Formal methods and project management; Part II. Introducing Z: 4. What is Z?; 5. A first example in Z; 6. From prose to Z: control console; 7. Introducing schemas: text editor; Part III. Elements of Z: 8. Elements; 9. Structure; 10. Logic; 11. Synthesis; 12. Schemas and schema calculus; 13. Schema types and bindings; 14. Generic definitions and free types; 15. Formal reasoning; Part IV. Studies in Z: 16. Document control system; 17. Text processing; 18. Eight queens; 19. Computer graphics and computational geometry; 20. Rule-based programming; 21. Graphical user interface; 22. Safety-critical protection system; 23. Modelling large systems; 24. Concurrency and real time; 25. Object-oriented programming; Part V. From Z to Code: 26. Program derivation and formal verification; 27. From Z to code.