Formal specification and analysis of software architectures using the chemical abstract machine model

1 April 1995

journal article
Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

Vol. 21 (4) , 373-386
https://doi.org/10.1109/32.385973

Abstract

We are exploring an approach to formally specifying and analyzing software architectures that is based on viewing software systems as chemicals whose reactions are controlled by explicitly stated rules. This powerful metaphor was devised in the domain of theoretical computer science by Ban\^ atre and Le Mtayer and then reformulated as the Chemical Abstract Machine, or CHAM, by Berry and Boudol. The CHAM formalism provides a framework for developing operational specifications that does not bias the described system toward any particular computational model. It also encourages the construction and use of modular specifications at different levels of detail. We illustrate the use of the CHAM for architectural description and analysis by applying it to two different architectures for a simple, but familiar, software system, the multiphase compiler.

Keywords

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