A theoretical basis for stepwise refinement and the programming calculus
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: A theoretical basis for stepwise refinement and the programming calculus
zbMATH Open document ID: 0624.68017
DOI: 10.1016/0167-6423(87)90011-6
author: Joseph M. Morris
published in: Science of Computer Programming
publication date: 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
review text: A uniform treatment of specifications, programs, and programming is presented. The treatment is based on adding a specification statement to a given procedural language and defining its semantics. The extended language is thus a specification language and programs are viewed as a subclass of specifications. A partial ordering on specifications/programs corresponding to 'more defined' is defined. In this partial ordering the program/specification hybrids that arise in the construction of a program by stepwise refinement form a monotonic sequence. We show how Dijkstra's calculus for the derivation of programs corresponds to constructing this monotonic sequence. Formalizing the calculus thus gives some insight into the intellectual activity it demands and allows us to hint at further developments.
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 68N01
zbMATH DE Number: 4014004
zbMATH Keywords: specifications
zbMATH Keywords: programming
zbMATH Keywords: semantics
zbMATH Keywords: partial ordering
zbMATH Keywords: stepwise refinement
zbMATH Keywords: Dijkstra's calculus
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: 0167-6423(87)90011-6
OpenAlex ID: W2087713039
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4014004