Recent advances in software specification methods, model checking, and theorem proving have generated new tools for the use of formal methods in both industry and academia. Yet, in order to choose the techniques most appropriate for a specific application, it is necessary to have a good understanding and expertise in formal methods. Software engineers now have several case studies to learn from, and are able to choose from a large selection of languages and methods, with a rich repertoire of appropriate concepts for their intended applications.

This extensively revised and updated new edition of "Specification of Software Systems" builds upon the original focus on "software specification" with added emphasis on the practice of formal methods for "specification and verification activities" for different types of software systems and at different stages of developing software systems. This expanded perspective is matched by a considerable amount of new content, included to cater to the growing needs of students and researchers in the area of formal software engineering. Topics related to the integration of formal methods in the software development process are introduced early, and are followed by presentations of principles of abstraction, definitions of formalism, notations of formalism, and a wide variety of detailed specification examples. This additional material is further reflected in the new structure of the second edition, which is now arranged in six parts.

Topics and features: provides a wide coverage of formal specification techniques and a clear writing style, supported by end-of-chapter bibliographic notes for further reading; presents a logical structure, with sections devoted to specification fundamentals, basics of formalism, logic, set theory and relations, property-oriented specification methods, and model-based specification techniques; contains end-of-chapter exercises and numerous case studies, with potential course outlines suggested in the Preface; covers Object-Z, B-Method, and Calculus of Communicating Systems; offers material that can be taught with tool-supported laboratory projects.

This comprehensive textbook is essential reading for students at all levels in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, and information systems engineering. Software professionals wishing to familiarize themselves with formal methods will also find this an invaluable reference.

This extensively revised and updated new edition of "Specification of Software Systems" builds upon the original focus on "software specification" with added emphasis on the practice of formal methods for "specification and verification activities" for different types of software systems and at different stages of developing software systems. Topics and features: provides a wide coverage of formal specification techniques and a clear writing style, supported by end-of-chapter bibliographic notes for further reading; presents a logical structure, with sections devoted to specification fundamentals, basics of formalism, logic, set theory and relations, property-oriented specification methods, and model-based specification techniques; contains end-of-chapter exercises and numerous case studies, with potential course outlines suggested in the Preface; covers Object-Z, B-Method, and Calculus of Communicating Systems; offers material that can be taught with tool-supported laboratory projects.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Algebraic Methodology and Software Technology, held in Montreal, Canada in July 1995.
It includes full papers or extended abstracts of the invited talks, refereed selected contributions, and research prototype tools. The invited speakers are David Gries, Jeanette Wing, Dan Craigen, Ted Ralston, Ewa Orlowska, Krzysztof Apt, Joseph Goguen, and Rohit Parikh. The 29 refereed papers presented were selected from some 100 submissions; they are organized in sections on algebraic and logical foundations, concurrent and reactive systems, software technology, logic programming and databases.

The Software Engineering and Knowledgebase Systems (SOFfEKS) Research Group of the Department of Computer Science, Concordia University, Canada, organized a workshop on Incompleteness and Uncertainty in Information Systems from October 8-9, 1993 in Montreal. A major aim of the workshop was to bring together researchers who share a concern for issues of incompleteness and uncertainty. The workshop attracted people doing fundamental research and industry oriented research in databases, software engineering and AI from North America, Europe and Asia. The workshop program featured six invited talks and twenty other presentations. The invited speakers were: Martin Feather (University of Southern CalifornialInformation Systems Institute) Laks V. S. Lakshmanan (Concordia University) Ewa Orlowska (Polish Academy of Sciences) z. Pawlak (Warsaw Technical University and Academy of Sciences) F. Sadri (Concordia University) A. Skowron (Warsaw University) The papers can be classified into four groups: rough sets and logic, concept analysis, databases and information retrieval, and software engineering. The workshop opened with a warm welcome speech from Dr. Dan Taddeo, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. The first day's presentations were in rough sets, databases and information retrieval. Papers given on the second day centered around software engineering and concept analysis. Sufficient time was given in between presentations to promote active interactions and numerous lively discussions. At the end of two days, the participants expressed their hope that this workshop would be continued."

Logic and object-orientation have come to be recognized as being among the most powerful paradigms for modeling information systems. The term "information systems" is used here in a very general context to denote database systems, software development systems, knowledge base systems, proof support systems, distributed systems and reactive systems. One of the most vigorously researched topics common to all information systems is "formal modeling." An elegant high-level abstraction applicable to both application domain and system domain concepts will always lead to a system design from "outside in"; that is, the aggregation of ideas is around real-life objects about which the system is to be designed. Formal methods \yhen applied with this view in mind, especially during early stages of system development, can lead to a formal reasoning on the intended properties, thus revealing system flaws that might otherwise be discovered much later. Logic in different styles and semantics is being used to model databases and their transactions; it is also used to specify concurrent, distributed, real-time, and reactive systems., The notion of "object" is central to the modeling of object oriented databases, as well as object-oriented design and programs in software engineering. Both database and software engineering communities have undoubtedly made important contributions to formalisms based on logic and objects. It is worthwhile bringing together the ideas developed by the two communities in isolation, and focusing on integrating their common strengths."