Supporting incremental behaviour model elaboration

Abstract

Behaviour model construction remains a difficult and labour intensive task which hinders the adoption of model-based methods by practitioners. We believe one reason for this is the mismatch between traditional approaches and current software development process best practices which include iterative development, adoption of use-case and scenario-based techniques and viewpoint- or stakeholder-based analysis; practices which require modelling and analysis in the presence of partial information about system behaviour. Our objective is to address the limitations of behaviour modelling and analysis by shifting the focus from traditional behaviour models and verification techniques that require full behaviour information to partial behaviour models and analysis techniques, that drive model elaboration rather than asserting adequacy. We aim to develop sound theory, techniques and tools that facilitate the construction of partial behaviour models through model synthesis, enable partial behaviour model analysis and provide feedback that prompts incremental elaboration of partial models. In this paper we present how the different research threads that we have and currently are developing help pursue this vision as part of the “Partial Behaviour Modelling—Foundations for Iterative Model Based Software Engineering” Starting Grant funded by the ERC. We cover partial behaviour modelling theory and construction, controller synthesis, automated diagnosis and refinement, and behaviour validation.