Amazon.com Review
For extremely
clean and reliable software,
Cleanroom software engineering may just do the trick. Aimed at the computer science student,
Cleanroom Software Engineering provides a state-of-the-art introduction to a design methodology that is gaining attention in scientific, military, and business circles.
Pioneered at IBM, Cleanroom has grown up from a good academic idea to a successful practice. (The book highlights several military and business projects that have succeeded using Cleanroom.) By decomposing a problem into "black boxes" of mathematical functions and then statistically verifying that all possible inputs to these functions are processed correctly, Cleanroom can guarantee the correctness of software before it ships.
The book looks at the incremental approach to software design favored by Cleanroom, in which functions are verified independently. A case study for an embedded security alarm device is presented. Subsequent sections examine the statistical foundations of Cleanroom. (Though not all inputs can be tested, a piece of software can nevertheless be verified statistically.) A second case study explores a Java program that controls a communications satellite, which shows the whole Cleanroom approach--from initial design and coding to Cleanroom certification that proves its correctness (along with plenty of tables showing test data).
The Y2K problem proves once and for all that software doesn't always work correctly with every input. Cleanroom techniques, though not yet in the business mainstream, would seem to offer a new level of software reliability. Geared to the academic reader, Cleanroom Software Engineering shows the strengths of this technique for designing the mission-critical software of the future. --Richard Dragan
From the Inside Flap
This book is about Cleanroom software engineering technology and management. It provides an overview of Cleanroom for application to software engineering projects, and a road map for software management, development, and testing as disciplined engineering practices. It serves as an introduction for those who are new to Cleanroom software engineering and as a reference guide for the growing practitioner community.
The book is organized into three parts as follows:
Part I: Cleanroom Software Engineering Fundamentals is a presentation of Cleanroom theory and engineering practice. The principal Cleanroom practices are described: incremental development under statistical quality control; function-based specification, development, and verification; and statistical testing based on usage models. The Cleanroom Reference Model (CRM) is introduced as a framework for an overall Cleanroom engineering process. A small example, the security alarm, is used in Part I to illustrate practices and work products. Part II: The Cleanroom Software Engineering Reference Model provides a process model that can be adopted, tailored, and elaborated by a software engineering organization. The CRM is expressed in 14 Cleanroom processes and 20 work products. Each process is defined in terms of an augmented ETVX (Entry, Tasks, Verification, Exit) model. The CRM is a guide for Cleanroom project performance and process improvement. Chapter 11 relates the CRM to the Key Process Areas of the Capability Maturity Model for Software. Part III: A Case Study in Cleanroom Software Engineering presents a large example, the satellite control system, that includes key technical work products produced in a Cleanroom project: a box structure specification and design, a usage model and usage model analysis.
In many situations, Cleanroom technologies can be applied without special tools. For example, box structure specifications and designs can be recorded using conventional word processors and templates. It is often the case, however, that tools can simplify and improve Cleanroom practice, and help enable scale-up to larger systems. Accordingly, the principal examples in this book are augmented with output from Cleanroom tools to provide additional analysis and insight.
This book is intended to give managers and technical practitioners an understanding of Cleanroom technologies, and to provide an overall process framework for managing Cleanroom projects. Part I describes the underlying theory and the methods of practice, and is recommended for all readers. Part II defines Cleanroom processes and may be used as both a reference and as a guide for management activities. The large case study in Part III will help readers to understand what is produced in a Cleanroom project and to envision how Cleanroom can be applied to their own projects.
We also recommend this book for both undergraduate and graduate students in computer science and software engineering programs. It is important for students to understand the value and necessity for intellectual control in large-scale software engineering, and the importance of the technologies and processes used to achieve it. Of special importance for students is an appreciation of the incremental development life cycle, methods for precise specification, design, and verification, and application of usage-based testing to certify software. Acknowledgments
The authors thank Ingrid Biery, Laura Prados, and Kirk Sayre for their valuable assistance in the verification of various work products presented herein.
We also thank Helen Goldstein, our editor at Addison-Wesley, for her patience and support in working with us to produce this book.
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