Application of Formal Methods in Development of Information Systems

During the 1960s IS community faced the failure of unsuccessful development of  complex information systems, in spite of heaving large computers and higher programming languages available. This situation is known as “software crisis” and solution is recommended at conferences sponsored by NATO in 1968. and 1969. After participants have come up with the conclusion that more engineer-like discipline is needed in IS development, the term “software engineering” was introduced. Software engineering was based upon some formal methods that should be used in software development process. Since then philosophy that underpins the formal methods hasn’t changed. Numerous methods and methodologies have been developed for supporting the IS development in last three decades. Majority, if not all of them, are based on common foundations provided by formal methods. However, the importance of formal methods decreased as development of structured methods shifted from programming to the analysis of IS, because analysis doesn’t look so “formal”. Great number of IS developers nowadays use contemporary IS development methods without even being aware of formalism that lay inside these methods. On the other side, one of preconditions for efficient implementation of IS development methods is “understanding” the formalism without which these methods couldn’t be developed.

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