Model Checking an Object-Oriented Design: Validation Led Development of Software

Abstract

The object-oriented design methodologies have focused on methods, tools and representations to build classes taking advantage of inheritance and encapsulation properties. Modelling of the interaction among the objects often does not go beyond the method declarations stage until the programming phase. Efforts to include object constraints in the object-oriented design to embody the behavioural correctness have not reached the level assertions play in understanding the correctness of the traditional imperative programs. The paper describes use of a model checker to establish correctness of an object-oriented design.