L. de Alfaro, T.A. Henzinger.
Interface-based Design.
In
Engineering Theories of Software-intensive Systems
(M. Broy, J. Gruenbauer, D. Harel, and C.A.R. Hoare, eds.),
NATO Science Series: Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, Vol. 195,
Springer, 2005, pp. 83-104.
Abstract
Postscript
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Abstract
We motivate and introduce the theory behind formalizing rich
interfaces for software and hardware components. Rich interfaces
specify the protocol aspects of component interaction. Their
formalization, called interface automata, permits a compiler to check
the compatibility of component interaction protocols. Interface
automata support incremental design and independent
implementability. Incremental design means that the compatibility
checking of interfaces can proceed for partial system descriptions,
without knowing the interfaces of all components. Independent
implementability means that compatible interfaces can be refined
separately, while still maintaining compatibility.