Software Abstractions: Logic, Language, and Analysis

by Daniel Jackson (Author)

8 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0262101141

ISBN-10: 0262101149

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Software Abstractions: Logic, Language, and Analysis (MIT Press)
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In Software Abstractions Daniel Jackson introduces a new approach to software design that draws on traditional formal methods but exploits automated tools to find flaws as early as possible. This approach--which Jackson calls "lightweight formal methods" or "agile modeling"--takes from formal specification the idea of a precise and expressive notation based on a tiny core of simple and robust concepts but replaces conventional analysis based on theorem proving with a fully automated analysis that gives designers immediate feedback. Jackson has developed Alloy, a language that captures the essence of software abstractions simply and succinctly, using a minimal toolkit of mathematical notions. The designer can use automated analysis not only to correct errors but also to make models that are more precise and elegant. This approach, Jackson says, can rescue designers from "the tarpit of implementation technologies" and return them to thinking deeply about underlying concepts.Software Abstractions introduces the key elements of the approach: a logic, which provides the building blocks of the language; a language, which adds a small amount of syntax to the logic for structuring descriptions; and an analysis, a form of constraint solving that offers both simulation (generating sample states and executions) and checking (finding counterexamples to claimed properties). The book uses Alloy as a vehicle because of its simplicity and tool support, but the book's lessons are mostly language-independent, and could also be applied in the context of other modeling languages.

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Editorial Reviews

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"Abstraction is the essence of simple and effective software design, and logic is the essential tool for exploring and validating abstractions. These basic insights, which have been laboriously rediscovered by many practicing programmers, are now accessible to students and professionals at all levels of experience. Daniel Jackson supports his clear and elegant text with a powerful logical analysis tool that brings his witty examples to life."--Tony Hoare, Senior Researcher, Microsoft

"The examples and exercises, if given time, thought, and effort, can make better designers of all of us, as Alloy is a powerful force-multiplier in the war on bugs.... Jackson's Software Abstractions has my highest recommendation. It is being put to immediate use in my group's venue of software-based safety-critical systems." George Hacken Computing Reviews

About the Author

Daniel Jackson is Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and leads the Software Design Group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 366 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press (March 24, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262101149
ISBN-13: 978-0262101141
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,171,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3639 in Books > Textbooks > Computer Science > Software Design & Engineering
- #8011 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Software Development
- #16781 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science

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Top Customer Reviews

Good guide for those looking for formal methods that are actually useful

ByJoseph Carnahanon June 5, 2007

Format: Hardcover

This book describes Alloy, a tool for specifying and analyzing data structures and other relationships within your programs. The book walks you through a tutorial, showing you how you can find the bugs in your specifications before you actually write any code, and then goes into the details of the language and its semantics.

I think I was exactly the target audience for this book (and the Alloy language), as I write a lot of Java software and have been looking for a practical specification tool. I've heard of other people who were less happy with this book, as they were trying to learn _about_ Alloy rather than learning Alloy itself. There is some material at the beginning and end that compares and contrasts Alloy with other specification languages, but the real value of this book comes in the middle where it teaches you how to use Alloy effectively.

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Good and readable introduction to Alloy

Byapple_consumeron January 27, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Good and readable introduction to Alloy.

You probably want the printed edition. Unfortunately, the Kindle edition version is the older the first edition.

This is not Amazon's fault -- MIT Press site has no ebook version of the second edition.

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theoretical but practical

ByMr. Magounon May 8, 2012

Format: Hardcover

This book does a great job of describing the theory behind Alloy -- the relational logic, the concepts, the overarching motivation --- while connecting it to real-world practical examples. It's suitable for both academics and engineers, theoreticians and practitioners. The latest edition is updated for the new Alloy 4 syntax, which includes a number of small improvements and simplifications over the prior version.

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Solid introduction to Alloy

ByLorin Hochsteinon May 7, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Good book for learning the fundamentals of Alloy. It's written in a very accessible fashion. I only wish there were a few more non-trivial examples to show how to apply Alloy to model different kinds of problems, since the challenge with these types of modeling languages is not just mastering the basic functionality, but understanding how to apply them to solve problems.

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Practical formal method

ByLogicChopperon January 5, 2013

Format: Hardcover

This book shows you how to build models (software abstractions) using the Alloy specification language. Although the book does not come with a CD, the Alloy tool is free and can be downloaded from the MIT website along with a number of example models. I really liked the way this book started; you jump right into using the Alloy tool in the first chapter by walking through a very simple tutorial which builds up a model of an address book system. The book then progresses on to more complex models that include a model of a token ring network and a hotel system. The great thing about the Alloy tool is that you can visualize its solutions, e.g. you can step through "time" and watch the token being passed from node to node checking that your model behaves the way you think it should. This book is a tutorial on how to think about systems in an abstract manner and how to formalize those abstractions using Alloy so that they can be checked for correctness. Alloy is a "lightweight" formal method meaning that once you have shown your model to be correct within a certain scope you will need to implement that model in the language of your choice manually. This is a very useful book and one that will undoubtedly improve your software engineering.

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This is the original 2006 publication of this book

ByWes Embryon August 13, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

and there is a 2011 revision of this book that adds changes and new library info
along with new capabiilies.

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An interesting book on the use of Formal verification for ...

Bybig_bosson August 16, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

An interesting book on the use of Formal verification for software problems. Worth a read if pursuing topics in hardware verification and software testing.

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Five Stars

ByAmazon Customeron January 3, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A great book!

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