Issues surrounding specification languages for software automation

Software automation tools which assist in the building of software from specifications are described. The problems and promise of both informal and formal approaches to software automation are discussed. Specification languages which serve as the basis for a software automation tool provide the most specific basis for their discussion. Issues which need to be addressed are identified. These include the problems inherent in feature-based approaches: the lack of reasoning power inherent in some specification languages; the problems of inconsistency, ambiguity, and incompleteness; and the nonmonotonic aspects of software.<
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