Statecharts: a visual formalism for complex systems
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Statecharts: a visual formalism for complex systems
zbMATH Open document ID: 0637.68010
DOI: 10.1016/0167-6423(87)90035-9
published in: Science of Computer Programming
publication date: 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
review text: We present a broad extension of the conventional formalism of state machines and state diagrams, that is relevant to the specification and design of complex discrete-event-systems, such as multi-computer real- time systems, communication protocols and digital control units. Our diagrams, which we call statecharts, extend conventional state-transition diagrams with essentially three elements, dealing, respectively, with the notions of hierarchy, concurrency and communication. These transform the language of state diagrams into a highly structured and economical description language. Statecharts are thus compact and expressive - small diagrams can express complex behavior - as well as compositional and modular. When coupled with the capabilities of computerized graphics, statecharts enable viewing the description at different levels of detail, and make even very large specifications manageable and comprehensible. In fact, we intend to demonstrate here that statecharts counter many of the objections raised against conventional state diagrams, and thus appear to render specification by diagrams an attractive and plausible approach. Statecharts can be used either as a stand-alone behavioral description or as part of a more general design methodology that deals also with the system's other aspects, such as functional decomposition and data-flow specification. We also discuss some practical experience that was gained over the last three years in applying the statechart formalism to the specification of a particularly complex system.
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 68N99
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 68Q85
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 68N01
zbMATH DE Number: 4039254
zbMATH Keywords: state machines
zbMATH Keywords: state diagrams
zbMATH Keywords: discrete-event-systems
zbMATH Keywords: multi-computer real-time systems
zbMATH Keywords: communication protocols
zbMATH Keywords: digital control units
zbMATH Keywords: statecharts
zbMATH Keywords: state-transition diagrams
zbMATH Keywords: description language
zbMATH Keywords: specification
Wikidata QID: Q56547344
author: David Harel
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: 0167-6423(87)90035-9
OpenAlex ID: W2099529102
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4039254