Adaptation and modification of Nassi-Shneiderman charts to represent Descartes specifications visually

Author

Khwaja, Amir Ali ; Urban, Joseph E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

23-25 Jun 1992

Firstpage

188

Lastpage

201

Abstract

Descartes is an executable specification language that supports the rapid prototyping of partial through complete software specifications. A technique developed to represent Descartes executable specifications visually by adapting the charts of I. Nassi and B. Shneiderman (1973), is described. Symbols are identified for the data structuring methods and the rationale for selecting these symbols is discussed. The benefits gained in moving a graphical technique up to the front end of the software life cycle are discussed. Sample specifications are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the technique

Keywords

diagrams; formal specification; software prototyping; specification languages; Descartes; Nassi-Shneiderman charts; data structuring methods; executable specification language; graphical technique; rapid prototyping; software life cycle; software specifications; Computer science; Costs; Design engineering; Natural languages; Programming; Prototypes; Software prototyping; Specification languages; System testing; Visualization;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Rapid System Prototyping, 1992. Shortening the Path from Specification to Prototype, 1992 International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Research Triangle Park, NC

Print_ISBN

0-8186-3520-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IWRSP.1992.243907

Filename

243907