Independent examination of software: an experiment

Abstract This paper summarises our experience in using model-checking technology to understand the behaviour of a system. A simple model of the system under test is created from the informal documentation. This model is used to create a test environment for the system. The behaviour of system combined with the test environment is then verified using the tool Verisoft. This requires a few changes to the original source code. The aim to minimize the number of changes to the original source code so that its original behaviour is not affected. The use of Verisoft to create a model, which can subsequently be used for testing is also studied. The main conclusion is that it is possible to use bounded model checking on source code with a view towards verifying key behavioural properties.

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