Recent Trends in Algebraic Development Techniques

The algebraic approach to system speci?cation and development, born in the 1970sas a formalmethod for abstractdata types, encompassestoday the formal design of integrated hardware and software systems, new speci?cation fra- works and programming paradigms (such as object-oriented, logic, and high- order functional programming) and a wide range of application areas (including information systems, concurrent and distributed systems). Workshops on Al- braicDevelopmentTechniques,initiatedin1982asWorkshopsonAbstractData Types, have become a prominent forum to present and discuss research on this important area. The 14th International Workshop on Algebraic Development Techniques (WADT’99) took place at the Chat ˆ eau de Bonas, near Toulouse, September 15–18,1999,and was organized by Didier Bert and Christine Choppy. The main topics of the workshop were: – algebraic speci?cation – other approaches to formal speci?cation – speci?cation languages and methods – term rewriting and proof systems – speci?cation development systems (concepts, tools, etc.). The program consisted of invited talks by Michel Bidoit, Manfred Broy, Bart Jacobs, Natarajan Shankar, and 69 presentations describing ongoing - search. The parallel sessions were devoted to: algebraic speci?cations and other speci?cation formalisms, test and validation, concurrent processes, - plications, logics and validation, combining formalisms, subsorts and parti- ity, structuring, rewriting, coalgebras and sketches, re?nement, institutions and categories, ASM speci?cations. There were also sessions re?ecting - going research achieved in the Common Framework Initiative (CoFI, see http://www.brics.dk/Projects/CoFI/), within its di?erent task groups: CASL (Common Algebraic Speci?cation Language), CASL semantics, CASL tools, methodology, and reactive systems.