Applying model checking to concurrent object-oriented software

Abstract

Model checking is a formal verification technique which checks the consistency between a requirement specification and a behavior model of the system by exploring the state space of the model. We apply model checking to formal verification of concurrent object-oriented systems, using an existing model checker SPIN which has been successful in verifying parallel systems. First, we propose an Actor-based modeling language, called APromela, by extending a modeling language Promela which is a modeling language supported in SPIN. APromela supports not only all the primitives of Promela, but additional primitives needed to model concurrent object-oriented systems, such as class definition, object instantiation, message send, and synchronization. Second, we provide translation rules for mapping APromela's such modeling primitives to Promela's. By giving an example of specification, translation, and verification, we also demonstrate the applicability of our proposed approach, and discuss the limitations and further research issues.