Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines

Flavio Ferrarotti; Josef Pichler; Michael Moser; Georg Buchgeher

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines

Flavio Ferrarotti, Josef Pichler, Michael Moser, Georg Buchgeher

Research Center Hagenberg

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedings › Conference contribution › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

We are interested in specifications which provide a consistent high-level view of systems. They should abstract irrelevant details and provide a precise and complete description of the behaviour of the system. This view of software specification can naturally be expressed by means of Gurevich’s Abstract State Machines (ASMs). There are many known benefits of such an approach to system specifications for software engineering and testing. In practice however, such specifications are rarely generated and/or maintained during software development. Addressing this problem, we present an exploratory study on (semi) automated extraction of high-level software specifications by means of ASMs. We describe, in the form of examples, an abstraction process which starts by extracting an initial ground-level ASM specification from Java source code (with the same core functionality), and ends in a high-level ASM specification at the desired level of abstraction. We argue that this process can be done in a (semi) automated way, resulting in a valuable tool to improve the current software engineering practices.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings
Editors	Klaus-Dieter Schewe, Neeraj Kumar Singh
Publisher	Springer
Pages	267-283
Number of pages	17
ISBN (Print)	9783030320645
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19
Publication status	Published - 2019
Event	MEDI 2019 - Tuolouse, France, France Duration: 28 Oct 2019 → 31 Oct 2019 https://www.irit.fr/MEDI2019/

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume	11815 LNCS
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	MEDI 2019
Country/Territory	France
City	Tuolouse, France
Period	28.10.2019 → 31.10.2019
Internet address	https://www.irit.fr/MEDI2019/

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10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

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Ferrarotti, F., Pichler, J., Moser, M., & Buchgeher, G. (2019). Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines. In K.-D. Schewe, & N. K. Singh (Eds.), Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings (pp. 267-283). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 11815 LNCS). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

Ferrarotti, Flavio ; Pichler, Josef ; Moser, Michael et al. / Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines. Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings. editor / Klaus-Dieter Schewe ; Neeraj Kumar Singh. Springer, 2019. pp. 267-283 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)).

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abstract = "We are interested in specifications which provide a consistent high-level view of systems. They should abstract irrelevant details and provide a precise and complete description of the behaviour of the system. This view of software specification can naturally be expressed by means of Gurevich{\textquoteright}s Abstract State Machines (ASMs). There are many known benefits of such an approach to system specifications for software engineering and testing. In practice however, such specifications are rarely generated and/or maintained during software development. Addressing this problem, we present an exploratory study on (semi) automated extraction of high-level software specifications by means of ASMs. We describe, in the form of examples, an abstraction process which starts by extracting an initial ground-level ASM specification from Java source code (with the same core functionality), and ends in a high-level ASM specification at the desired level of abstraction. We argue that this process can be done in a (semi) automated way, resulting in a valuable tool to improve the current software engineering practices.",

author = "Flavio Ferrarotti and Josef Pichler and Michael Moser and Georg Buchgeher",

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Ferrarotti, F, Pichler, J, Moser, M & Buchgeher, G 2019, Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines. in K-D Schewe & NK Singh (eds), Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 11815 LNCS, Springer, pp. 267-283, MEDI 2019, Tuolouse, France, France, 28.10.2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines. / Ferrarotti, Flavio; Pichler, Josef; Moser, Michael et al.
Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings. ed. / Klaus-Dieter Schewe; Neeraj Kumar Singh. Springer, 2019. p. 267-283 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 11815 LNCS).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedings › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines

AU - Ferrarotti, Flavio

AU - Pichler, Josef

AU - Moser, Michael

AU - Buchgeher, Georg

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - We are interested in specifications which provide a consistent high-level view of systems. They should abstract irrelevant details and provide a precise and complete description of the behaviour of the system. This view of software specification can naturally be expressed by means of Gurevich’s Abstract State Machines (ASMs). There are many known benefits of such an approach to system specifications for software engineering and testing. In practice however, such specifications are rarely generated and/or maintained during software development. Addressing this problem, we present an exploratory study on (semi) automated extraction of high-level software specifications by means of ASMs. We describe, in the form of examples, an abstraction process which starts by extracting an initial ground-level ASM specification from Java source code (with the same core functionality), and ends in a high-level ASM specification at the desired level of abstraction. We argue that this process can be done in a (semi) automated way, resulting in a valuable tool to improve the current software engineering practices.

AB - We are interested in specifications which provide a consistent high-level view of systems. They should abstract irrelevant details and provide a precise and complete description of the behaviour of the system. This view of software specification can naturally be expressed by means of Gurevich’s Abstract State Machines (ASMs). There are many known benefits of such an approach to system specifications for software engineering and testing. In practice however, such specifications are rarely generated and/or maintained during software development. Addressing this problem, we present an exploratory study on (semi) automated extraction of high-level software specifications by means of ASMs. We describe, in the form of examples, an abstraction process which starts by extracting an initial ground-level ASM specification from Java source code (with the same core functionality), and ends in a high-level ASM specification at the desired level of abstraction. We argue that this process can be done in a (semi) automated way, resulting in a valuable tool to improve the current software engineering practices.

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DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9783030320645

T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

SP - 267

EP - 283

BT - Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings

A2 - Schewe, Klaus-Dieter

A2 - Singh, Neeraj Kumar

PB - Springer

T2 - MEDI 2019

Y2 - 28 October 2019 through 31 October 2019

ER -

Ferrarotti F, Pichler J, Moser M, Buchgeher G. Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines. In Schewe KD, Singh NK, editors, Model and Data Engineering- 9th International Conference, MEDI 2019, Proceedings. Springer. 2019. p. 267-283. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-32065-2_19

Extracting High-Level System Specifications from Source Code via Abstract State Machines

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