Abstract: "The thesis describes the production of a large prototype proof system for Z, and a tactic language in which the proof tactics used in a wide range of systems (including the system described here) can be discussed. The details of the construction of the tool -- using the W logic for Z, and implemented in 20BJ -- are presented, along with an account of some of the proof tactics which enable W to be applied to typical proofs in Z.A case study gives examples of such proofs. Special attention is paid to soundness concerns, since it is considerably easier to check that a program such as this one produces sound proofs, than to check that each of the impenetrable proofs which it creates is indeed sound. As the first such encoding of W, this helped to find bugs in the published presentations of W, and to demonstrate that W makes proof in Z tractable. The second part of the thesis presents a tactic language, with a formal semantics (independent of any particular tool) and a set of rules for reasoning about tactics written in this language. A small set of these rules is shown to be complete for the finite (non-recursive) part of the language. Some case studies are included, as are some ideas on how this tactic language can give rise to lightweight implementations of theorem proving tools. The tool described in some detail is another theorem-prover for Z, this time based on LittleZ."

Growing demands for the quality, safety, and security of software can only be satisfied by the rigorous application of formal methods during software design. This book methodically investigates the potential of first-order logic automated theorem provers for applications in software engineering. Illustrated by complete case studies on protocol verification, verification of security protocols, and logic-based software reuse, this book provides techniques for assessing the prover's capabilities and for selecting and developing an appropriate interface architecture.

The programming of a proof procedure is discussed in connection with trial runs and possible improvements. (Author).

Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies illustrates how the computer-aided reasoning system ACL2 can be used in productive and innovative ways to design, build, and maintain hardware and software systems. Included here are technical papers written by twenty-one contributors that report on self-contained case studies, some of which are sanitized industrial projects. The papers deal with a wide variety of ideas, including floating-point arithmetic, microprocessor simulation, model checking, symbolic trajectory evaluation, compilation, proof checking, real analysis, and several others. Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies is meant for two audiences: those looking for innovative ways to design, build, and maintain hardware and software systems faster and more reliably, and those wishing to learn how to do this. The former audience includes project managers and students in survey-oriented courses. The latter audience includes students and professionals pursuing rigorous approaches to hardware and software engineering or formal methods. Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on Software Engineering, Formal Methods, Hardware Design, Theory of Computation, Artificial Intelligence, and Automated Reasoning. The book is divided into two parts. Part I begins with a discussion of the effort involved in using ACL2. It also contains a brief introduction to the ACL2 logic and its mechanization, which is intended to give the reader sufficient background to read the case studies. A more thorough, textbook introduction to ACL2 may be found in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach. The heart of the book is Part II, where the case studies are presented. The case studies contain exercises whose solutions are on the Web. In addition, the complete ACL2 scripts necessary to formalize the models and prove all the properties discussed are on the Web. For example, when we say that one of the case studies formalizes a floating-point multiplier and proves it correct, we mean that not only can you read an English description of the model and how it was proved correct, but you can obtain the entire formal content of the project and replay the proofs, if you wish, with your copy of ACL2. ACL2 may be obtained from its home page. The results reported in each case study, as ACL2 input scripts, as well as exercise solutions for both books, are available from this page.

"This book provides analysis, characterization and refinement of software engineering data in terms of machine learning methods. It depicts applications of several machine learning approaches in software systems development and deployment, and the use of machine learning methods to establish predictive models for software quality while offering readers suggestions by proposing future work in this emerging research field"--Provided by publisher.

Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach is a textbook introduction to computer-aided reasoning. It can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on software engineering or formal methods. It is also suitable in conjunction with other books in courses on hardware design, discrete mathematics, or theory, especially courses stressing formalism, rigor, or mechanized support. It is also appropriate for courses on artificial intelligence or automated reasoning and as a reference for business and industry. Current hardware and software systems are often very complex and the trend is towards increased complexity. Many of these systems are of critical importance; therefore making sure that they behave as expected is also of critical importance. By modeling computing systems mathematically, we obtain models that we can prove behave correctly. The complexity of computing systems makes such proofs very long, complicated, and error-prone. To further increase confidence in our reasoning, we can use a computer program to check our proofs and even to automate some of their construction. In this book we present: A practical functional programming language closely related to Common Lisp which is used to define functions (which can model computing systems) and to make assertions about defined functions; A formal logic in which defined functions correspond to axioms; the logic is first-order, includes induction, and allows us to prove theorems about the functions; The computer-aided reasoning system ACL2, which includes the programming language, the logic, and mechanical support for the proof process. The ACL2 system has been successfully applied to projects of commercial interest, including microprocessor, modeling, hardware verification, microcode verification, and software verification. This book gives a methodology for modeling computing systems formally and for reasoning about those models with mechanized assistance. The practicality of computer-aided reasoning is further demonstrated in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies. Approximately 140 exercises are distributed throughout the book. Additional material is freely available from the ACL2 home page on the Web, including solutions to the exercises, additional exercises, case studies from the companion book, research papers, and the ACL2 system with detailed documentation.

There are many kinds of books on formal logic. Some have philosophers as their intended audience, some mathematicians, some computer scientists. Although there is a common core to all such books they will be very dif ferent in emphasis, methods, and even appearance. This book is intended for computer scientists. But even this is not precise. Within computer sci ence formal logic turns up in a number of areas, from program verification to logic programming to artificial intelligence. This book is intended for computer scientists interested in automated theorem proving in classical logic. To be more precise yet, it is essentially a theoretical treatment, not a how-to book, although how-to issues are not neglected. This does not mean, of course, that the book will be of no interest to philosophers or mathematicians. It does contain a thorough presentation of formal logic and many proof techniques, and as such it contains all the material one would expect to find in a course in formal logic covering completeness but not incompleteness issues. The first item to be addressed is, what are we talking about and why are we interested in it. We are primarily talking about truth as used in mathematical discourse, and our interest in it is, or should be, self-evident. Truth is a semantic concept, so we begin with models and their properties. These are used to define our subject.