🚀 go-pugleaf

From article <592@bohra.cpg.oz>, by mike@bohra.cpg.oz (Mike Crooks):
> Could someone please point me at some references to the 'Z' specification
> language developed at Oxford.

From the PRG Z bibliography:

@techreport{bowen:fullzbib,
        author = "Jonathan P. Bowen and Ruaridh Macdonald",
        title = "Z Bibliography",
        institution = "Programming Research Group, Oxford University",
        address = "Oxford, UK",
        year = "1988",
        month = "December",
        note = "A master bibliography of both published and unpublished work
related to Z. This is available via electronic mail by sending a
message of ``send z zbib'' to <archive-server@uk.ac.oxford.prg>
on JANET. (For more information on the archive server, send a
message of ``help''.)"}

@book{hayes:specification,
        author = "Ian J. Hayes",
        title = "Specification Case Studies",
        series = "International Series in Computer Science",
        publisher = "Prentice-Hall",
        year = "1987",
        note = "ISBN 0-13-826579-8, ISBN 0-13-826595-X PBK"}

@techreport{sking:zgrammar,
        author = "Steve King and Ib H. S\o{}rensen and James C.P. Woodcock",
        title = "Z: Grammar and Concrete and Abstract Syntaxes",
        institution = "Programming Research Group, Oxford University",
        address = "Oxford, UK",
        year = "1988",
        type = "Technical Monograph",
        number = "PRG-68",
        note = "ISBN 0902928503"}

@book{spivey:znotation,
        author = "J. Michael Spivey",
        title = "The Z Notation: A Reference Manual",
        publisher = "Prentice-Hall",
        series = "International Series in Computer Science",
        year = "1989",
        note = "ISBN 013983768X"}

@book{spivey:understandingz,
        author = "J. Michael Spivey",
        title = "Understanding Z: A Specification Language and its Formal Semantics",
        publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
        year = "1988",
        month = "January",
        note = "Published version of 1985 D.Phil. thesis."}

I am not a mathematician and I find "Understanding Z" is quite difficult.

A good introduction to set theory and predicate calculus is:
@book{woodcock:maths,
        author = "James C.P. Woodcock and Martin Loomes",
        title = "Software Engineering Mathematics: Formal Methods Demystified",
        publisher = "Pitman Publishing Ltd",
        address = "London, UK",
        year = "1988",
        note = "ISBN 0273026739"}

This book uses the concrete syntax of Z and is a good introduction.

Used fivers will do nicely thanks Jim :-)

  ____________________________________________________________________
  Pete Young         pyoung@axion.bt.co.uk        Phone +44 473 645054
  British Telecom Research Labs,SSTF, Martlesham Heath IPSWICH IP5 7RE