The Future of Library Specification
				  by
			   Gary T. Leavens
				   
			       Abstract

Programming language technology has started to achieve one of the
dreams of software engineering -- large scale utilization of reusable
components.  This is due to the standardization of large libraries and
frameworks in popular programming languages such as C++, Java, C#, and
Python.  This standardization and widespread use of libraries will
continue to make module specification more and more important.  Yet
most libraries and frameworks are only specified informally using
natural language.  This position paper explores research questions
related to the specification of such libraries and frameworks.

Keywords:  library, framework, specification, documentation.

2010 CR Categories:

D.2.1 Software Engineering
        Requirements / Specifications --- langauges, tools;
D.2.2 Software Engineering
        Design Tools and Techniques --- modules and interfaces,
        software libraries;
D.2.4 Software Engineering
        Software / Program Verification --- formal methods, programming
        by contract;
D.2.5 Software Engineering
        Testing and Debugging --- debugging aids, testing tools;
D.2.7 Software Engineering
        Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement --- documentation;
D.2.13 Software Engineering
        Reusable Software --- reusable libraries;
F.3.1 Logics and Meanings of Programs
	Specifying and Verifying and Reasoning about Programs ---
        specification techniques;

To appear in FoSER 2010, copyright (c) 2010 ACM 978-1-4503-0427-6/10/11. 

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