Specifying Systems ─ The Tla+ Language and Tools for Hardware and Software Engineers

This book provides a guide to the writing of unambiguous specifications of complex computer systems. It explains how to describe, with mathematical precision, the behavior properties of a system. Safety properties are stressed, but topics like liveliness, fairness, and real time are also covered. The book also supplies a reference manual for the TLA+ language and tools. Lamport is a computer scientist, best known for creating the LaTeX typesetting program. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Leslie Lamport, a computer scientist, is well known for his contributions to concurrent computing and distributed systems. His "Time, Clocks, and the Ordering of Events in a Distributed System" paper has been honored for its enduring influence on the field. Lamport is also known for creating the LaTeX typesetting system and the best-selling book,LaTeX, Second Edition, which documents it (Addison-Wesley, 1994). Now at Microsoft Research in Mountain View, California, he began his work on TLA+ at the Digital (later Compaq) Systems Research Center in Palo Alto. Lamport, who earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Brandeis University, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

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