The specification expresses the desired behavior of variables as traces, or histories, with absolute time as the trace index. A rigorous development procedure then allows this specification to be transformed into a skeletal multi-tasking program, annotated with precise timing constraints that each code segment must obey. Program development is not considered complete until it has been formally proven that each code segment executes within these constraints. In summary then, real-time computing is a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. However, while we can often enhance the functional behavior of a computer, by adding more memory or a new arithmetic unit, we cannot alter the passage of time.
Time remains as much an immutable force in computer science as in our everyday lives.
7th International Conference , Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science 939, pp. 4 Morgan, C., Programming from Specifications , Prentice-Hall, 1990. A New Discipline of Computer Science and Engineering, Proceedings of the IEEE , Vol. 6-24, January 1994. His research interests include formal methods, real-time systems, and models of causality in distributed systems.