The Prehistory and History of RE (+SE) as Seen by Me
How My Interest in FMs Helped to Move Me to RE and to Teach Me
Fundamental Impediments to Using FMs in SW Systems Development

Daniel M. Berry

Cheriton School of Computer Science
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, ON, Canada

Abstract:

Berry very briefly weaves the twin peaks of (1) his life with interests in computing, programming, programming languages, software engineering, formal methods, electronic publishing, and requirements engineering with (2) the almost concurrent development of the fields of Programming Languages (PLs), Software Engineering (SE), and Requirements Engineering (RE).

He then describes his participation in the field of Formal Methods (FMs), how it stimulated his eventual move to RE at the same time he was becoming more and more disillusioned about the usefulness and effectiveness of formal methods.

What he learned while doing RE research, in particular, the Gunter, Gunter, Jackson, and Zave RE reference model, allows him to understand and explain why formal methods cannot be as effective as formal methodologists had hoped. His own work on the importance of ignorance in RE suggests that what does help is the presence of formal methodologists in a software development project.