Tag Archives: formal methods

The source of error (updated)

Posted on July 8, 2009 by admin

Here’s Edsger Dijkstra discussing the birth of the use of axiomatics in computer science – the start of “formal methods” research.  What’s striking is the assumed choice between “axiomatic” and “mechanistic” as if there was no other way. In a … Continue reading →

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Recursion and state

Posted on July 2, 2009 by admin

Despite some deep results, algebraic automata theory has fallen out of favor in theoretical computer science. Reasons include the disciplines failings such as a love of over-generality, weak mathematical background of people working on “formal methods”, and gap between theoreticians … Continue reading →

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Are threads evil? (updated)

Posted on February 25, 2009 by admin

This paper by Prof. Edward Lee explains something of why “threads” are such a painful abstraction.  As Prof. Lee notes, threads intrinsically create non-determinism and resource conflicts which we then attempt to “prune” via synchronization and complex tools. In an … Continue reading →

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