Description: This book bridges the gap between academic "formal methods" and real-world software development. It demonstrates the strategic use of logic in software design, helping you achieve the benefits of formal methods without dramatically changing the way your developers work. Everyone who builds complex information systems uses conceptual software models, but most software designers have only an informal, parochial understanding of the logic beneath these models. This book introduces "lightweight" uses of applied logic that add welcome precision to software design, without compromising your ability to interpret the models you create. Robertson and Agusti introduce and use key concepts of predicate logic and automation of inference. Based on these concepts, they introduce the use of formal models in lifecycles; techniques for communicating formal theories; the reuse of design paradigms; and more. Unlike most books on "formal methods, " they focus extensively on pragmatic considerations, showing how logic can be used to extend (not replace) the modeling methods you already use.

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