{"type":"ScholarlyArticle","title":"Informality in Program Specifications","authors":[{"name":"Robert Balzer","slug":"robert-balzer","given":"Robert","family":"Balzer","affiliation":""},{"name":"Neil M. Goldman","slug":"neil-m-goldman","given":"Neil M.","family":"Goldman","affiliation":""},{"name":"David S. Wile","slug":"david-s-wile","given":"David S.","family":"Wile","affiliation":""}],"abstract":"This paper is concerned primarily with (1) the procedure by which process-oriented specifications are obtained from goal-oriented requirement specifications and (2) computer-based tools for their construction. It first determines some attributes of a suitable process-oriented specification language, then examines the reasons why specifications would still be difficult to write in such a language. The key to overcoming these difficulties seems to be the careful introduction of informality based on partial, rather than complete, descriptions and the use of a computer'-based tool that uses context extensively to complete these descriptions during the process of constructing a well-formed specification. Some results obtained by a running prototype of such a computer-based tool on a few informal example specifications are presented and, finally, some of the techniques used by this phototype system are discussed.","doi":null,"url":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/91","pdf":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/0091.pdf","markdown":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/91.md","bibtex":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/bibtex/91","volume":{"slug":"1977","title":"Proceedings of the Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence","short_title":"IJCAI 1977","url":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/","year":1977,"location":"Cambridge, MA, USA","dates":"","editors":"Raj Reddy","isbn":"","publisher":"International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence","doi_prefix":""},"section":"Aids to Programming","track":"Aids to Programming","number":91,"pages":{"first":389,"last":396},"keywords":[],"videos":[],"references":[],"license_note":"Copyright International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence."}