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Verification of Java’s AbstractCollection Class: A Case Study

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Book cover Mathematics of Program Construction (MPC 2002)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2386))

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Abstract

This paper presents the specification and (modular) verification of Java’s AbstractCollection class. This work is done as a case study within the LOOP project (at the university of Nijmegen). It is the first major verification within the project using the theorem prover Isabelle. The class AbstractCollection is automatically translated into a series of Isabelle theories. The specifications, written in the Java Modeling Language (JML), give rise to appropriate proof obligations. The paper explains how the specifications are constructed and verified. When working on this case study, it became clear that there is a problem that is not documented in the informal documentation: when a collection contains a reference to itself it has unexpected behaviour. It is discussed how the specifications are adapted to overcome this problem.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRIA Sophia-Antipolis, France

    Marieke Huisman

Authors
  1. Marieke Huisman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computing Laboratory, University of Kent at Canterbury, CT2 7NF, Canterbury, Kent, UK

    Eerke A. Boiten

  2. Institut für Informatik, Universität Augsburg, Universitätsstr. 14, 86135, Augsburg, Germany

    Bernhard Möller

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Huisman, M. (2002). Verification of Java’s AbstractCollection Class: A Case Study. In: Boiten, E.A., Möller, B. (eds) Mathematics of Program Construction. MPC 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2386. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45442-X_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45442-X_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43857-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45442-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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