Synthesis-Based Loose Programming

In this paper we present loose programming, an approach designed to enable process developers to design their application-specific processes in an intuitive style. Key to this approach is the concept of loose specification, a graphical formalism that allows developers to express their processes just by sketching them as kinds of flow graphs without caring about types, precise knowledge about the available process components or the availability of resources. They only have to specify the rough process flow graphically in terms of ontologically defined `semantic´ entities. These loose specifications are then concretized to fully executable process code automatically by means of a combination of 1) data-flow analysis, ensuring the availability of the required resources, 2) temporal logic-based process synthesis, resolving type conflicts and taking care of correct component instantiation, and 3) model checking, to ensure global intents and invariants expressed in temporal logic.