Christine Choppy - Böcker

The algebraic specification of abstract data types has beena flourishing research topic in computer science since 1974. The main goal of this work isto evolve theoreticalfoundations and a methodology to support the design andformal development of reliable software. This volume gives the proceedings of the Eighth Workshop onSpecification of Abstract Data Types, held jointly with theThird COMPASS workshop near Paris in August 1991. The maintopics covered by the joint workshop are:- specification languagesand program development- algebraic specification of concurrency- theorem proving- object-oriented specifications- order-sorted algebras- abstract implementation and behavioral semantics. The volume contains four invited surveys and twelvecontributed papers, all of which underwent a carefulrefereeing process.

The algebraic approach to system speci?cation and development, born in the 1970sas a formalmethod for abstractdata types, encompassestoday the formal design of integrated hardware and software systems, new speci?cation fra- works and programming paradigms (such as object-oriented, logic, and high- order functional programming) and a wide range of application areas (including information systems, concurrent and distributed systems). Workshops on Al- braicDevelopmentTechniques,initiatedin1982asWorkshopsonAbstractData Types, have become a prominent forum to present and discuss research on this important area. The 14th International Workshop on Algebraic Development Techniques (WADT'99) took place at the Chat eau de Bonas, near Toulouse, September 15-18,1999,and was organized by Didier Bert and Christine Choppy. The main topics of the workshop were: - algebraic speci?cation - other approaches to formal speci?cation - speci?cation languages and methods - term rewriting and proof systems - speci?cation development systems (concepts, tools, etc.).The program consisted of invited talks by Michel Bidoit, Manfred Broy, Bart Jacobs, Natarajan Shankar, and 69 presentations describing ongoing - search. The parallel sessions were devoted to: algebraic speci?cations and other speci?cation formalisms, test and validation, concurrent processes, - plications, logics and validation, combining formalisms, subsorts and parti- ity, structuring, rewriting, coalgebras and sketches, re?nement, institutions and categories, ASM speci?cations. There were also sessions re?ecting - going research achieved in the Common Framework Initiative (CoFI, see http://www.brics.dk/Projects/CoFI/), within its di?erent task groups: CASL (Common Algebraic Speci?cation Language), CASL semantics, CASL tools, methodology, and reactive systems.