First International Workshop on Larch

Unwieldy, incomprehensible, spaghetti-like Fortran code is very likely the image conjured by the term "engineering and scientific software." What could the purveyors of such monstrosities possibly want with formal methods! Written from the perspective of a civil engineer, the following is a discussion of the potential role of formal specification tools, such as Larch, in engineering applications. The discussion also includes some examples of specifying engineering software components, and some comments on the potential benefits of formal specifications in engineering program design.

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