Multiple dimensions of integrating development technology

Studies have shown that errors are most likely to be introduced in the requirements phase of a development effort. This problem is largely due to prose descriptions that are ambiguous or inconsistent. One potential solution to this problem is to capture requirements information in the form of formal specifications that can be checked for consistency and completeness using automated techniques. However; during the initial phases of a project, it may be difficult to construct formal specifications directly. In contrast, many developers find it more intuitive to create diagram to model their systems. As a means to bridge the gap between formal and informal approaches to software development, we have investigated the formalization of a commonly used object-oriented modeling notation, Object Modeling Technique (OMT). The formalization of OMT enables the automated generation of formal specifications of the diagrams that can then be analyzed using simulation and model checking, and other types of verification techniques. Lessons from this integration effort can assist in the development of strategies for integrating techniques from the assurance, fault tolerance, and security fields. One key factor to this type of collaboration will be the use of a specific problem domain to focus the integration efforts. Another issue to be addressed is a common framework upon which the researchers from the three fields can build their integrated techniques.