Algebraic specification, is a software engineering technique for formally specifying system behavior. Algebraic specification seeks to systematically develop more efficient programs by:
- formally defining types of data, and mathematical operations on those data types
- abstracting implementation details, such as the size of representations (in memory) and the efficiency of obtaining outcome of computations
- formalizing the computations and operations on data types
- allowing for automation by formally restricting operations to this limited set of behaviors and data types.
An algebraic specification achieves these goals by defining one or more data types, and specifying a collection of functions that operate on those data types. These functions can be divided into two classes:
- constructor functions: functions that create or initialize the data elements, or construct complex elements from simpler ones
- additional functions: functions that operate on the data types, and are defined in terms of the constructor functions.
Read more about Algebraic Specification: Example
Famous quotes containing the word algebraic:
“I have no scheme about it,—no designs on men at all; and, if I had, my mode would be to tempt them with the fruit, and not with the manure. To what end do I lead a simple life at all, pray? That I may teach others to simplify their lives?—and so all our lives be simplified merely, like an algebraic formula? Or not, rather, that I may make use of the ground I have cleared, to live more worthily and profitably?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)