A review of twenty formal specification notations

This report describes a general review that was conducted as part of the Human Cognition and Formal Methods research project at the University of Hertfordshire during the latter half of 1995. The main purpose of the survey was to determine which of the formal notations currently available would be most suitable as a model for testing the project's specific research theories. Twenty notations from the state-based, process algebra and algebraic domains of formal specification were selected and reviewed against a list of predefined criteria. This report discusses the review's findings and discusses some of the main intellectual problems facing the designers of formal notations.