Re: [CZT-Users] Is Z specification dead?

[Mark U. <bm....@gm...>]

Hi James

Very timely question - we are just starting to update the CZT project, with
a new Steering Committee, moving to GitHub, updating the build process etc.
We will post news here as we make progress.


But for your larger question about Z, it is probably true that it is less
widely used now than a decade or two ago.
I think this is largely because there are so many more specification
languages/tools now, many of which offer strong reasoning support to prove
properties of your specifications.

The best specification option varies, depending upon what kind of system
you are specifying.

For example, Alloy (http://alloytools.org) was partly inspired by Z, but
has better support for exploring properties, by using automated SAT solvers
to check properties of small subsets of the system and generate
counter-examples of properties when they are false.
For other projects, I sometimes use an interactive theorem prover like
Isabelle/HOL, or a system with automated prover support like the
Dafny-Boogie-Z3 tools.

If you are using Z you might like to check out the Z plugin for MS Word:
 * https://sourceforge.net/projects/zwordtools/

Cheers
Mark

On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 at 05:11, James Coulter <cou...@gm...> wrote:

> While I am relatively new to Z, I have found it to be an excellent
> language for specification.  However, I've noticed that books, academic
> sites, and even CZT, all have shown a steady decline in new material in
> recent years.
>
> Is Z being abandoned?  If so, what is replacing it?  For example, are
> people generally preferring other tools such as TLA+ or similar?  Or is
> formal specification struggling overall?  I will continue to both use and
> promote formal specification, but I think it's important to use tools that
> have an active community.  Should I continue to invest in Z or look
> elsewhere?
>
> Regards, James
>
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