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A logical framework for evolving software systems

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Formal Aspects of Computing

Abstract

In this paper we present a logical framework for evolving software systems in which the critical aspects of large-scale software systems maintenance are treated by an approach which considers that configuration management is essentially concerned with the management of system changes. The basis of this framework is a formal description of transitions that might be made in the soft-ware change process, the purpose of the formalism is to allow deductions to be made about the validity of such transitions. A generalised formal description of software system architectures from the viewpoint of evolving software systems is also provided in the paper. Reasoning about functional aspects of these descriptions is achieved through the interaction of a theorem prover for the proposed metalogic formalism and a theorem prover for reasoning about sequential programs. In our approach the alterations of software descriptions can be viewed as programming-in-the-large transformations which are stated by means of the descriptive/prescriptive (deontic) features of actions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Systems Group, Computer Science Department, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Paulo S. C. Alencar & Carlos J. P. de Lucena

Authors
  1. Paulo S. C. Alencar
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  2. Carlos J. P. de Lucena
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulo S. C. Alencar.

Additional information

P. S. C. de Alencar is a Visiting Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and is currently on leave from the Departamento de Ciência da Computação, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.

C. J. P. Lucena is a Visiting Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and is currently on leave from the Departamento de Informática, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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Alencar, P.S.C., de Lucena, C.J.P. A logical framework for evolving software systems. Formal Aspects of Computing 8, 3–46 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01211049

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