Rigorous UML-based Software Development: Faking Informality

Robert France
Colorado State University

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is an Object Management
Group (OMG) standard object-oriented modeling language that
is gaining a strong foothold in industry. Despite its popularity,
the use of the UML for modeling complex systems is hindered by
the lack of precise semantics for some of its basic constructs. 
In this talk I will outline an approach to developing precise semantics
for core UML concepts and describe a framework we are
developing to support UML-based rigorous development of software.
The framework is intended to support transformation of,
and rigorous reasoning with UML models, and
includes a software evolution process that supports
a transformation-based development software life-cycle.
Our approach to providing rigorous support for the UML is driven by a
desire to ensure that the semantics and techniques are consistent with
high quality UML experiences in industry.