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A formal systems engineering approach in practice: an experience report
Böhm W., Junker M., Vogelsang A., Teufl S., Pinger R., Rahn K.  SER&IPs 2014 (Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Software Engineering Research and Industrial Practices, Hyderabad, India, Jun 1, 2014)34-41.2014.Type:Proceedings
Date Reviewed: Sep 17 2014

For many years, formal methods have been advertised as being on the verge of practical applications. Therefore, it would be nice to read a report on some practical applications.

This paper promises to be an experience report illustrating the use of a formal model framework together with an implementing tool chain for a real-world industrial project. The modeling framework, called SPES MF, was developed by a consortium of academic and industrial partners. The framework and one associated tool, called AutoFOCUS3, were applied retroactively to an existing automatic train control system developed by Siemens. In this study, three partners worked together: people from academia interested in validating the framework and tool, people from the tool vendor interested in validating and improving the tool, and people from industry interested in assessing the usefulness of the framework and tool for industrial practice.

The first two sections of the paper explain the setup, the different goals of the collaborating partners, and the decisions made with regard to scope and methodology.

The main body of the paper explains the key aspects of the system that the framework is applied to, as well as how the study was conducted. Interestingly, most of the effort of the study was spent modeling requirements. The framework and the tooling then proceeded rather quickly in a formalized manner, from the requirements models to other aspects (for example, functional architecture).

The final section discusses how the different goals of the collaborators were achieved, what the authors consider the main success factors, and what follow-up projects are planned.

The paper is well written but very short. Unfortunately, the SPES MF framework and the AutoFOCUS3 tool are only vaguely alluded to, making it rather difficult to get a deeper understanding of the work done. The success factors presented are, in my opinion, applicable to most projects, regardless of modeling frameworks and formal methods. Cooperation with product experts, quality of specifications, an extensive glossary explaining the domain, and mature tool support would probably benefit any project.

Reviewer:  Markus Wolf Review #: CR142725 (1412-1055)
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Design Tools and Techniques (D.2.2 )
 
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