What Top-Level Software Engineers Tackle after Learning Formal Methods: Experiences from the Top SE Project

In order to make practical use of formal methods, it is not sufficient for engineers to obtain general, fundamental knowledge of the methods and tools. Actually, it is also necessary for them to carefully consider their own contexts and determine adequate approaches to their own problems. Specifically, engineers need to choose adequate methods and tools, determine their usage strategies, and even customize or extend them for their effective and efficient use. Regarding the point, this paper reports and discusses experiences on education of formal methods in the Top SE program targeting software engineers in the industry. The program involves education of a variety of scientific methods and tools with group exercises on practical problems, allowing students to compare different approaches while understanding common principles. In addition, the program involves graduation studies where each student identifies and tackles their own problems. Statistics on problem settings in the graduation studies provide interesting insights into what top-level engineers tackles after learning formal methods.