Investigating the Influence of Formal Methods

Practitioners and researchers continue to seek methods and tools for improving software development processes and products. Candidate technologies promise increased productivity, better quality, lower cost, or enhanced customer satisfaction. We must test these methods and tools empirically and rigorously to determine any significant, quantifiable improvement. We tend to consider evaluation only after using the technology, which makes careful, quantitative analysis difficult if not impossible. However, when an evaluation is designed as part of overall project planning, and then carried out as software development progresses, the result can be a rich record of a tool's or technique's effectiveness. In this study, we investigated the effects of using formal methods to develop an air-traffic-control information system.