Partially Introducing Formal Methods into Object-Oriented Development: Case Studies Using a Metrics-Driven Approach

Among researchers and practitioners, there are disputations about whether, where, and to which degree formal methods worth their cost. Based on our experiences of industrial software projects over the last years, we develop an empirical approach of partially introducing formal methods into object-oriented software development. Once an initial architecture design is available, object-oriented metrics can be useful criteria for selecting core parts of software systems for formal treatment. Case studies of the application of our approach show that partially adopting formal methods could achieve a satisfying balance between investment and product quality in a cost-effective way.