On the Specification of Components - the JavaBeans Example

We specify the JavaBean component model and concrete beans using a combination of UML class diagrams, an extension of Object-Z, and life sequence charts. We extend Object-Z by keywords that allow one to concisely describe the interface of a bean by an Object-Z class specification. The component model specification provides specification templates consisting of class diagrams, Object-Z fragments, and life sequence charts that precisely capture the functional behavior of beans in general, including the interaction of beans that cooperate in a system. The new keywords used for specifying concrete beans translate to instances of the component model specification templates, showing that our extension of Object-Z is syntactical sugar only.