X-Git-Url: https://git.shemshak.org/~bandali/bndl.org/blobdiff_plain/191fccfd5435763f15669b3418429095e1087965..7909a222e5392db059f5523290483349de615009:/bandali-mmath.txt diff --git a/bandali-mmath.txt b/bandali-mmath.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d41ee2 --- /dev/null +++ b/bandali-mmath.txt @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ +bandali's master of mathematics +https://bndl.org/bandali-mmath.txt + + +I graduated from the University of Waterloo with the degree of Master +of Mathematics in Computer Science in Spring 2020. My research at the +Waterloo Formal Methods group focused on formal logic, model checking, +and verification; under supervision of Prof. Nancy Day. + + + A Comprehensive Study of Declarative Modelling Languages + +THESIS + + Reference version: + - https://p.bndl.org/bandali-mmath-thesis.pdf + LaTeX sources: + - https://p.bndl.org/bandali-mmath-thesis.tar.gz + - https://p.bndl.org/bandali-mmath-thesis.zip + + Abstract: + + Declarative behavioural modelling is a powerful modelling paradigm + that enables users to model system functionality abstractly and + formally. An abstract model is a concise and compact + representation of key characteristics of a system, and enables the + stakeholders to reason about the correctness of the system in the + early stages of development. + + There are many different declarative languages and they have + greatly varying constructs for representing a transition system, + and they sometimes differ in rather subtle ways. In this thesis, + we compare seven formal declarative modelling languages B, + Event-B, Alloy, Dash, TLA+, PlusCal, and AsmetaL on several + criteria. We classify these criteria under three main categories: + structuring transition systems (control modelling), data + descriptions in transition systems (data modelling), and + modularity aspects of modelling. We developed this comparison by + completing a set of case studies across the data- + vs. control-oriented spectrum in all of the above languages. + + Structurally, a transition system is comprised of a snapshot + declaration and snapshot space, initialization, and a transition + relation, which is potentially composed of individual transitions. + We meticulously outline the differences between the languages with + respect to how the modeller would express each of the above + components of a transition system in each language, and include + discussions regarding stuttering and inconsistencies in the + transition relation. Data-related aspects of a formal model + include use of basic and composite datatypes, well-formedness and + typechecking, and separation of name spaces with respect to global + and local variables. Modularity criteria includes subtransition + systems and data decomposition. We employ a series of small and + concise exemplars we have devised to highlight these differences + in each language. To help modellers answer the important question + of which declarative modelling language may be most suited for + modelling their system, we present recommendations based on our + observations about the differentiating characteristics of each of + these languages. + + License: + + This thesis is free software: you can redistribute it and/or + modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as + published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of + the License, or (at your option) any later version. + + This thesis is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, + but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of + MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the + GNU General Public License for more details. + + You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License + along with this thesis. If not, see + . + + A copy of the GNU General Public License is available from the + COPYING file included in both of the LaTeX source archives linked + above. + +PRESENTATION + + Reference version: (coming soon) + LaTeX sources: (coming soon) + + This is the presentation I delivered to my supervisor and the second + readers of my thesis on Jun 30, 2020, as announced on the Cheriton + School of Computer Science website: + + https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/events/masters-thesis-presentation-formal-methods-comprehensive-study-declarative-modelling-languages + +MODELS + + Reference version: (coming soon)