Synthesis from a practical perspective

Sven Jörges, Anna Lena Lamprecht, Tiziana Margaria, Stefan Naujokat, Bernhard Steffen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Based on a very liberal understanding of synthesis as a generic term for techniques that generate programming artifacts from higher-level specifications, the paper discusses several corresponding facets from a practical perspective. The synthesis examples we consider comprise variations of code generation, model synthesis from temporal logic descriptions, and metamodel-based tool generation. Although very different, they can all be regarded as means to “factor out” predefined aspects of the envisioned product or the production environment so that developers/designers can simply focus on the remaining issues. This “factoring out” of what is pre-agreed or predefined is a primary goal of domain-specific languages design, and it is applicable to both modeling and programming languages. Leading synthesis techniques elegantly achieve this factoring by combining forms of substitution/partial evaluation to those steps that can be determined locally, as is typically the case for most parts of code generation, with (heuristic) search for those parts where more global patterns need to be matched, as is the case, e.g., for temporal- logic synthesis. The paper presents our experience with a variety of synthesis approaches and corresponding design and synthesis tools. It also discusses the synergetic potential of their combination, e.g., to control the computational complexity by reducing the underlying search space. This is, in our opinion, a viable path to achieve a fundamentally higher simplicity in IT system design.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLeveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation
Subtitle of host publicationFoundational Techniques - 7th International Symposium, ISoLA 2016, Proceedings
EditorsTiziana Margaria, Bernhard Steffen
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages282-302
Number of pages21
ISBN (Print)9783319471655
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Event7th International Symposium on Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation, ISoLA 2016 - Imperial, Corfu, Greece
Duration: 10 Oct 201614 Oct 2016

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9952 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference7th International Symposium on Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation, ISoLA 2016
Country/TerritoryGreece
CityImperial, Corfu
Period10/10/1614/10/16

Keywords

  • Code generation
  • Domain-specific languages
  • Linear-time synthesis
  • Metamodeling

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