Reusability with B: Towards Feature-Orientation

Speaker(s): Dr. Michael R. Poppleton
Organiser:
Time: 24/01/2007 13:00-14:00
Location: B59/1257

Abstract

A proposal is made for the development of a feature-oriented reuse capability for safety-critical software construction using rigorous methods. We indicate the motivation for this work - the need for a safety-critical software product line emerged in project RODIN. We recap the Event-B language - the evolution of the B-Method of J.-R. Abrial \cite{Abr:96} - a leading formal method for safety-critical software development. Current and new infrastructure for scalable development with Event-B is outlined, and contrasted with support required for feature-oriented development. The proposal is illustrated by a small example of feature-oriented construction and refinement with Event-B. The proposal is pragmatic (as per convention) and focussed on potential tool support. We conclude by indicating theoretical developments necessary to maximize the potential efficiency gains of such an approach to reuse.