Getting it right [reliable computer software

Abstract

This article deals verification of computer software and hardware, and the thing that's driving this is software and hardware are getting ever more complex. Nowadays companies are finding it very important to invest in new ways of designing the software and making sure that the software is right. The consequences of not getting the testing right are huge when the projects themselves are so complex. The key thing is that when we look at software or hardware, we think about it as a branch of logic, at an abstract level, rather than as a physical line of code or object. And we see if we can apply methods of logic to see if we've got the design right. The software testing tools that are being developed come in two flavours: one involves logical reasoning and building a formal proof about the software, while the other involves running logical tests on the software and checking models of the software - that is, logical model testing.