Multiple pre/post specifications for heap-manipulating methods

Abstract

Automated verification plays an important role for high assurance software. This typically uses a pair of pre/post conditions as a formal (but possibly partial) specification of each method before it is systematically verified. In this paper, we advocate for multiple pairs of pre/post conditions to be associated with each method which provides a way for such specification to be used in more scenarios. Multiple pre/post specifications are important for heap-manipulating programs where they can be precisely expressed using separation logic. This work highlights the importance of multiple pre/post specifications, and a methodology to capture them via set of states during proof search. © 2007 IEEE.