Martedì 6 novembre 2018, ore 9:00 - 10:00, Aula A (Plesso di Matematica)

Titolo: Introduction to Z specifications

Abstract: The Z specification language is one of the first formal languages
intended for the specification of software systems. It is a language
based on set theory and first-order logic. Z specifications take the
form of state machines. In this seminar I will give a brief introduction
to Z by means of practical examples. The goal of the seminar is to show
to students that formal specification is helpful to understand what has
to be implemented.


Martedì 6 novembre 2018, ore 10:30 - 11:30, Aula A (Plesso di Matematica)

Titolo: Using Z specifications in practice

Abstract: After the introduction to the Z formal notation given in the first
seminar, in this second seminar I will show three verification
activities that can be done having a Z specification. First, I will show
how to animate Z specifications by means of the {log} tool, and why this
is important. Then, I will show how to prove properties of Z
specification, more precisely how to prove that a predicate is a state
invariant. Finally, I will show that Z specifications can be used as the
source for test cases with which later the implementation will be
tested.


Giovedì 8 novembre 2018, ore 14:30 - 15:30, Aula C (Plesso di Matematica)

Titolo: Programs as formulas (not as proofs)

Abstract: After the Curry-Howard correspondence and the type theories developed in
the past decades, it emerged the idea of programs as proofs (of their
properties). That is, if we have a proof P of a theorem T, we can make P
a program whose type is T. This theory was a major breakthrough in
programming language design and software verification. However, in this
talk, I'll show an alternative and, in some sense, previous view:
programs as formulas. In other words, let's make the very formula to be
a program; that is, we don't need to make a proof to have a program. In
particular I'm going to show {log} (setlog), which is a programming
language but also an automated theorem prover. In {log} formulas are
programs, and programs are formulas. We can use the same tool and the
same language to specify programs, to simulate these specifications, to
generate test cases and to prove properties of them. {log} works with
formulas over the theory of finite sets, which allows for the
specification of large classes of programs.

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