Specification of Interacting Software Components: A Case Study

C. Canal, E. Pimentel, J.M. Troya

II Jornadas Iberoamericanas de Ingeniería de Requisitos y Ambientes Software

San José (Costa Rica), March 1999

IDEAS’99: Memoria, pp. 381-392, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, ISBN: 9968-32-000-5

Abstract

The emerging technologies challenge software companies to assimilate new development techniques addressing the specific characteristics of open and distributed applications. In this sense, two recent trends in Software Engineering are Component-Orientation and Software Architecture. Both consider software systems as collections of interacting components, and address aspects of composition and reuse. However, there is a lack of languages and tools for specifying the structure and interactions among the components of a system, or for determining whether these components have compatible behavior. Formal methods, in particular process algebras, can be a solution to some of these problems. In this paper we present the application of LEDA, a language based on the p-calculus, to the specification and validation of a distributed auction system, a particular problem where the interaction among system components is essential. (Paper)