As the size of Web applications grows, it becomes clear that we need better tools to deal with their growing complexity. The current trend has been to assist the developer during the implementation stage, with little or no emphasis in the design process. Formal specification languages allow the unambiguous description of the properties of a system without restricting its implementation. Formal languages can be used to verify properties about the design. We present in this paper Flash, a formal specification language for hypertext design. Based in set theory, Flash is a formal system that attempts to separate the different tasks faced during the design process. A Flash specification first formalizes the content of the application and its relationships. Then it collates that content into navigational composites. Finally, it specifies how those composites can be navigated. Each stage is clearly specified with precise, unambiguous syntax and semantics. Furthermore, Flash verifies properties such as completeness and type consistency of the specification.
展开▼
