Editorial Review:
Toward Zero-Defect Programming describes current methods for writing (nearly) bug-free programs. These methods are based on practices developed at IBM and elsewhere under the name Cleanroom Software Engineering. The successful application of these methods in commercial projects over the past fifteen years has produced defect rates that are, at least, an order of magnitude lower than industry averages. Remarkably, this reduction in defects comes at no net cost; on the contrary, it is often accompanied by increased productivity and shorter overall development time!
In a concise and well-illustrated presentation, Stavely shows how these methods can be applied in three key areas of software development: specification
verification
testing.
Requiring formal specifications, and requiring that the code be proved mathematically to agree with the specifications, forces software engineers to program more simply and more clearly, eliminating many defects as a consequence. Performing verification as part of a team process uncovers additional defects and encourages careful examination of the program for efficiency and other quality aspects. Testing the program, to compensate for human fallibility in the preceding steps, catches (nearly) all remaining bugs. Highlights
Explains Cleanroom methods for developing high-quality software.
Encourages a team process for program verification.
Illustrates the importance of incremental development.
The author departs somewhat from IBM Cleanroom methods in simplifying the procedures that readers must learn. His aim is to make specification and verification readily accessible to any student or practitioner who can write well-structured programs. No great mathematical sophistication is assumed. Although the books examples are written in a number of programming languages to explain different points, the largest number are in C; therefore, a prior knowledge of C is useful.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Cleanroom method---distilled! 2000-01-20
Dr. Allan Stavely has done for the Cleanroom Software Engineering method what Martin Fowler did for the Unified Modeling Language in his book "UML Distilled." He's analyzed the best and most useful parts of the Cleanroom method and found a great way to present them. After reading this book, you'll be controlling defect rates and shortening development times on your own software projects.For those not in the know, the Cleanroom method is a set of practices pioneered by the late Harlan Mills. The idea is to use some simplified mathematical formalism along with group verifications. The result? You shift time away from hack-and-slash debugging towards review. Often, the entire start-to-finish development time is shortened. With object-oriented languages and template instantiation times, this is a really good thing: the compile-debug-test cycle is far too painful and too slow to support today's shortened deadlines. The key to Cleanroom is that the mathematical formalism is simplified and "just enough." Stavely demonstrates the typical structures found in programs and shows how intended function statements (the math part) are used in the group review (the verification part) to discover defects in the code. Later, a testing group exercises the paths through the code that users are most likely to take, giving statistical metrics on mean-time to failure and feedback into the quality of the method's practice. Stavely's conversational writing style makes grasping the material efficient. Each chapter focus on just one aspect of the method, and exercises at the end test how well you grasped the material. Although Stavely includes hints to the answers for selected questions, I would've preferred complete answers to all the questions. That'd make the book more useful outside of a classroom setting. Transcripts of review sessions show how the method succeeds in the group review. Although hypothetical, Stavely based them on actual review sessions taken by his coworkers and students over the years. They help guide newcomers to the method on how to conduct the verification step. Overall, this is a great introduction to the Cleanroom method and after finishing the book you'll be able to introduce it to your own group in no time. Buy a copy for everyone on your team!
Excellent 1999-02-10
This book is a clear, practical introduction to the Cleanroom method. Though designed as a textbook, it is also suitable for professionals. It includes a useful bibliography, with suggestions at the end of the chapters for further reading. The final chapter sketches some areas not covered, giving references. There are some areas intentionally omitted or only sketched, though references are provided. These include: (1) using "black boxes, state boxes, and clear boxes" for top-down development. (2) introducing Cleanroom methods in an organization (3) organizing a Cleanroom team. Mathematically, the book is very easy going. For example, some methods which, technically, would require proof are not proved. Those of us who easily digest such details can readily fill in gaps, while others are probably happy to be spared. The book provided an unusually high return of useful content per unit time invested in reading it, and as such I recommend it highly.
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