Formally Specified Model

A Formally Specified Model is a model that is defined by formal statements.

• Context:
  • It can include a set of Assumptions.
  • It can be based on a Formal Metamodel (e.g. that specifies a Formal Specification Language).
• Example(s):
  • a Formal Definition.
  • a Formal Logic Model.
  • a Formal Data Structure Definition.
  • a Formal Semantic Model.
  • a Statistical Model.
  • a Formal Proof.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Controlled Vocabulary.
  • any Informal Model.
• See: Algorithm, Model Checking Task, TLA+.

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References

2002

• (Chella et al., 2002) ⇒ Antonio Chella, Massimo Cossentino, Roberto Pirrone, and Andrea Ruisi. (2002). “Modeling Ontologies for Robotic Environments.” In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering. doi:10.1145/568760.568775
  • An Ontology can be defined as a formally specified model of bodies of knowledge defining the concepts used to describe a domain and the relations that hold between them.

2001

• (Miller & Mukerji, 2001) ⇒ Joaquin Miller and Jishnu Mukerji. (2001). “Model Driven Architecture (MDA): A Draft with annotations of issues to resolve Architecture Board ORMSC." Object Management Group
  • A formally specified model is useful because:
    • It facilitates creation of compatible platform specific models/specifications corresponding to the same platform-independent model and hence implementations that are easier to bridge together.
    • It provides a common reference model and vocabulary with unambiguous meaning thus reducing the chances of miscommunication among system designers and builders.
    • It facilitates standardization of more precisely specified designs and patterns, thus allowing for portability of design, and makes it easier to support interoperability among different realizations of the same design on different platforms.

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