A study of 12 specifications of the library problem

Abstract

The author studies twelve specifications for a seemingly simple database problem and demonstrates many approaches for classifying informally stated problem requirements. She compares the specifications according to how they address problems of the library example to illustrate the imprecision of natural-language specifications and how twelve different approaches to the same set of informal requirements reveal many of the same problems. The comparison suggests which issues should be addressed in refining an informal set of requirements and shows how these issues are resolved in different specification approaches.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>