Swarthmore College Department of Computer Science

Talk by Matthew Lang, Moravian College

Maximal Systems
Mon, Feb 4, 2013
SCI 240, 4:30 pm (cookies at 4:15)

Abstract

Maximality is a property of a software system; just as we call software "correct," "fast," or "elegant," we can also call a system "maximal." Informally, a system is maximal if it does not unnecessarily restrict the non-determinism permitted by its specification.

Though this property sounds exotic, it's something that--in many cases--we intuitively desire of our software. In this talk, we'll formalize this intuitive desire by defining maximality and examine (as well as try to build) some examples of maximal software.

We will also look at some difficult challenges that we face when designing maximal software and the theoretical underpinnings from which these challenges stem. We will also discuss some open questions and exciting research opportunities surrounding reasoning about maximality.