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Intent SpecificationsWe have been investigating the implications of using abstractions based on intent rather than the aggregation and information-hiding abstractions commonly used in software en- gineering: Cognitive psychologists have shown that intent abstraction is consistent with human problem-solving processes. We believe that new types of specifications and designs based on this concept can assist in understanding and specifying requirements, capturing the most important design rationale information in an efficient and economical way, and supporting the process of identifying and analyzing required changes to minimize the introduction of errors. The goal of hierarchical abstraction is to allow both top-down and bottom-up reasoning about a complex system. In computer science, we have made much use of (1) part-whole abstractions where each level of a hierarchy represents an aggregation of the components at a lower level and of (2) information-hiding abstractions where each level contains the same conceptual information but hides some details about the concepts, that is, each level is a refinement of the information at a higher level.
Document ID
19990089302
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Other
Authors
Leveson, Nancy G. (Washington Univ. Seattle, WA United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1995
Subject Category
Computer Programming And Software
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG1-1495
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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