During the last 20 years several different formal and semi-formal specification techniques have been successfully developed and used. Applications comprise the specification of simple programs, data types and processes as well as of complex hardware and software systems. Due to the different nature of the employed diagrams and descriptions it is often difficult to get a comprehensive view of all functional and dynamic properties. On the other hand, the formal approaches are more difficult to learn and require mathematical training. But they provide mathematical rigor for analysis and prototyping of designs.
Verification is possible only with formal techniques.
Their studies and experiences show the added value of combining semi-formal and formal techniques and at the same time open a whole range of new problems and questions which cannot be asked when studying formalisms in isolation. The talks and discussions of the previous seminar have shown particular interest and first results in studying the relationship between UML as de facto standard for diagrammatic modeling languages and CASL as the new standard algebraic specification language. The goal of this seminar is to study possibilities and solutions for integrating and validating different formal and semi-formal specification techniques. Similarities and differences of several specification formalisms as well as possibilities for combining such techniques shall be discussed. The talks in this seminar should not concentrate on a single technique in isolation but should analyze, compare or integrate at least two techniques.