[IronPython] IP 1.0 timeframe?

[Andrew Deren]

If you're interested in learning more about asml (and it's concepts) there
will be a seminar at university of Chicago:

	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LOGIC SEMINAR

TIME: Friday, November 5, 2004,  1:30-2:20
ROOM: Ryerson 251

TITLE:   Abstract State Machines: From Foundations to Microsoft Tools

SPEAKER:  Yuri Gurevich, Microsoft Research

ABSTRACT: What is computer science about?  Largely about algorithms.
Programming languages, compilers, operating systems, communication
protocols, etc. are algorithms.  (More exactly, each of these gives rise to
a number of algorithms depending on the chosen abstraction level.)  And
what's an algorithm?  One may think that the question was answered in full
long ago by Church and Turing but it wasn't; there is more to an algorithm
than the function it computes.
(And what function does an operating system compute?)

This line of research led to the definition of abstract state machines and
the ASM thesis: For every algorithm A, there is an ASM that is behaviorally
equivalent to A.  If A is sequential-time then the ASM simulates A step for
step.  International experimentation with ASMs supports the thesis, and ever
larger portions of the thesis have been (and are being) proved from the
first principles; see articles 141, 157, 166 and 170.

ASMs are a natural vehicle for executable specifications.  That caught the
attention of Microsoft Research and lead to the formation of a group on
Foundations of Software Engineering.  Some people think that executable
specification is a contradiction in terms.  We think that executable
specifications will change the way software is designed, developed, tested
and documented.  The specification languages AsmL and Spec#, developed by
the FSE group, make writing relatively large ASMs practical.  Our tools
allow the developers (more and more) to experiment with their design,
validate and enforce it.  The tools empower numerous testers and enable them
to be involved earlier in the software development cycle.  We'll demonstrate
SpecExplorer, our latest tool.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Yuri Gurevich is a Sr. Researcher at Microsoft Research
in Redmond, WA.  He is also Professor Emeritus at the University of
Michigan, an ACM Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and Dr.
Honoris Causa of the Limburg University in Belgium.

HOST:  Robert Soare


-----Original Message-----
From: users-ironpython.com-bounces at lists.ironpython.com
[mailto:users-ironpython.com-bounces at lists.ironpython.com] On Behalf Of John
Tobler
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 2:59 PM
To: Keith J. Farmer
Cc: users-ironpython.com at lists.ironpython.com
Subject: Re: [IronPython] IP 1.0 timeframe?

Keith J. Farmer wrote:

>AsmL2 -- http://research.microsoft.com/fse/asml/
>
>My only complaint with AsmL so far is the fact that it isn't separated
>from C# in the IDE.
>  
>
Be a little careful with AsmL.  While I think it is very cool, it is a 
research project at Microsoft Research and there are no guarantees it 
will ever be released for public use.  As long as you realize it is a 
research toy and not a production system upon which to bet your 
company's future, you can have some real fun with it.  If you don't like 
using Visual Studio to write your AsmL, you can do it in Microsoft Word.

Enjoy,

John Tobler
csharpener AT softhome.net
CSharpener's Weblog:
  http://weblogs.asp.net/jtobler/

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