How did software get so reliable without proof?
The work
| Authors | C. A. R. Hoare |
|---|---|
| Editors | |
| Type | inproceedings |
| Year | 1996 |
| Citekey | hoare1996how |
Where it appeared
| Published in | 3rd International Symposium of Formal Methods Europe (FME) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Springer |
| Volume | 1051 |
| Pages | 1--17 |
Related
| Distinct from | bowen1995seven |
|---|---|
| Distinct from | clarke1996formal |
| Distinct from | craigen1995formal |
| Distinct from | dobrovic2013application |
| Distinct from | fagan1976design |
| Distinct from | garavel2020expert |
| Distinct from | gleirscher2019opportunities |
| Distinct from | hall1990seven |
| Distinct from | hoare1969axiomatic |
| Distinct from | leveson1993investigation |
| Distinct from | leveson1995medical |
| Distinct from | luqi1997formal |
| Distinct from | parnas2010really |
| Distinct from | pfleeger1997investigating |
| Distinct from | reid2016endtoend |
| Distinct from | sergienko1998formal |
| Distinct from | wolf2021gobra |
Abstract
By surveying current software engineering practice, this paper reveals that the tech- niques employed to achieve reliability are little different from those which have proved effective in all other branches of modern engineering: rigorous management of procedures for design in- spection and review; quality assurance based on a wide range of targeted tests; continuous evolu- tion by removal of errors from products already in widespread use; and defensive programming, among other forms of deliberate over-engineering. Formal methods and proof play a small direct role in large scale programming; but they do provide a conceptual framework and basic under- standing to promote the best of current practice, and point directions for future improvement.
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How it got here
| How it got here | agent via bibtex |
|---|---|
| Added | 2026-08-05 00:00 UTC |
| Approved by | a person 2026-08-17 08:38 UTC |
Filed under
Cite it as
@inproceedings{hoare1996how,
title = {How did software get so reliable without proof?},
author = {C. A. R. Hoare},
year = {1996},
booktitle = {3rd International Symposium of Formal Methods Europe (FME)},
publisher = {Springer},
volume = {1051},
pages = {1--17},
}
This record lives at https://refs.drheap.org/hoare1996how/ and will keep doing so.