BCS-FACS
Encyclopedia
BCS-FACS is the British Computer Society
Formal Aspects of Computing Science Specialist Group. The group, founded in 1978, organizes meetings for its members and others on formal methods
and related computer science
topics. There is an associated journal, Formal Aspects of Computing
, published by Springer
, and a more informal FACS FACTS newsletter.
The group celebrated its 20th anniversary with a meeting at the Royal Society
in London
in 1998, with presentations by four eminent computer scientists, Mike Gordon
, Tony Hoare, Robin Milner
and Gordon Plotkin
, all Fellows of the Royal Society.
From 2002–2008, the Chair of BCS-FACS was Jonathan Bowen
. Since then, the Chair has been Jawed Siddiqi
. In December 2002, BCS-FACS organized a conference on the Formal Aspects of Security (FASec'02) at Royal Holloway, University of London
. In 2004, FACS organized a major event at London South Bank University
to celebrate its own 25th anniversary and also 25 Years of CSP
(CSP25), attended by the originator of CSP, Sir Tony Hoare
, and others in the field..
The group liaises with other related groups such as the Centre for Software Reliability
, Formal Methods Europe
, the London Mathematical Society
Computer Committee, the Safety-Critical Systems Club, and the Z User Group
. It has held joint meetings with other BCS specialist groups such as the Advanced Programming Group
and BCSWomen
.
FACS sponsors and supports meetings, such as the Refinement Workshop. It often holds a Christmas event each year, with a theme related to formal aspects of computing — for example, teaching formal methods and formal methods in industry. BCS-FACS supported the ABZ 2008 conference at the BCS London premises.
In recent years, a series of evening seminars have been held, mainly at the BCS London office. Speakers have included leading computer scientists, mainly from the UK but some from abroad, including Samson Abramsky
FRS, Jean-Raymond Abrial
(France/Switzerland), Dines Bjørner
(Denmark), Robin Bloomfield, Richard Bornat
, Egon Börger
(Italy), Jan Broenink (The Netherlands), Michael Butler, Muffy Caulder, Mike Gordon
FRS, Anthony Hall
, Mark Harman
, Martin Henson
, Jane Hillston
, Mike Hinchey, Mike Holcombe, Michael Jackson
, Cliff Jones, Marta Kwiatkowska
, Tom Maibaum
, Ursula Martin
, Peter Mosses
, Ben Moszkowski, Peter O'Hearn
, Steve Reeves
(New Zealand), John Reynolds
(USA), Peter Ryan, Steve Schneider, John Tucker
, Phil Wadler, among others.
In 2010, a book of chapters based on some of these talks was published.
Talks are held annually with Formal Methods Europe
and the London Mathematical Society
(at the LMS headquarters in central London).
British Computer Society
The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
Formal Aspects of Computing Science Specialist Group. The group, founded in 1978, organizes meetings for its members and others on formal methods
Formal methods
In computer science and software engineering, formal methods are a particular kind of mathematically-based techniques for the specification, development and verification of software and hardware systems...
and related computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
topics. There is an associated journal, Formal Aspects of Computing
Formal Aspects of Computing
Formal Aspects of Computing is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media, covering the area of formal methods and associated topics in computer science. The editors-in-chief are Jim Woodcock and Cliff Jones. The journal is associated with BCS-FACS, the British...
, published by Springer
Springer Science+Business Media
- Selected publications :* Encyclopaedia of Mathematics* Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete * Graduate Texts in Mathematics * Grothendieck's Séminaire de géométrie algébrique...
, and a more informal FACS FACTS newsletter.
The group celebrated its 20th anniversary with a meeting at the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1998, with presentations by four eminent computer scientists, Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
, Tony Hoare, Robin Milner
Robin Milner
Arthur John Robin Gorell Milner FRS FRSE was a prominent British computer scientist.-Life, education and career:...
and Gordon Plotkin
Gordon Plotkin
Gordon D. Plotkin, FRS, FRSE is a Scottish computer scientist.Gordon Plotkin is best-known for his introduction of structural operational semantics and his work on denotational semantics. In particular, his notes on A Structural Approach to Operational Semantics of 1981 were very influential...
, all Fellows of the Royal Society.
From 2002–2008, the Chair of BCS-FACS was Jonathan Bowen
Jonathan Bowen
Jonathan P. Bowen FBCS FRSA is a British computer scientist. He is Chairman of Museophile Limited, an Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University where he has headed the Centre for Applied Formal Methods, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster...
. Since then, the Chair has been Jawed Siddiqi
Jawed Siddiqi
Jawed Siddiqi FBCS is a Pakistani British computer scientist and software engineer. He is the Professor of Software Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, England.- Education and academic career :...
. In December 2002, BCS-FACS organized a conference on the Formal Aspects of Security (FASec'02) at Royal Holloway, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. In 2004, FACS organized a major event at London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...
to celebrate its own 25th anniversary and also 25 Years of CSP
Communicating sequential processes
In computer science, Communicating Sequential Processes is a formal language for describing patterns of interaction in concurrent systems. It is a member of the family of mathematical theories of concurrency known as process algebras, or process calculi...
(CSP25), attended by the originator of CSP, Sir Tony Hoare
C. A. R. Hoare
Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare , commonly known as Tony Hoare or C. A. R. Hoare, is a British computer scientist best known for the development of Quicksort, one of the world's most widely used sorting algorithms...
, and others in the field..
The group liaises with other related groups such as the Centre for Software Reliability
Centre for Software Reliability
The Centre for Software Reliability is a distributed British organisation concerned with software reliability, including safety-critical issues. It consists of two sister organisations based at Newcastle University, UK...
, Formal Methods Europe
Formal Methods Europe
Formal Methods Europe is an organization whose aim is to encourage the research and application of formal methods for the improvement of software and hardware in computer-based systems. The association's members are drawn from academia and industry. It is based in Europe, but is international in...
, the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
Computer Committee, the Safety-Critical Systems Club, and the Z User Group
Z User Group
The Z User Group exists to promote use and development of the Z notation, a formal specification language for the description of and reasoning about computer-based systems...
. It has held joint meetings with other BCS specialist groups such as the Advanced Programming Group
Advanced Programming Group
The Advanced Programming Group is a Specialist Group of the British Computer Society . It held its first meeting, when it was referred to as "BCS Study Group No. 5", at Bishop's House, High Holborn, London WC1, England on 17 December 1959...
and BCSWomen
BCSWomen
BCSWomen is a Specialist Group of the British Computer Society, with the aim of supporting women working and considering a career in Information Technology....
.
FACS sponsors and supports meetings, such as the Refinement Workshop. It often holds a Christmas event each year, with a theme related to formal aspects of computing — for example, teaching formal methods and formal methods in industry. BCS-FACS supported the ABZ 2008 conference at the BCS London premises.
Samson Abramsky
Samson D. Abramsky FRS, FRSE is a computer scientist who currently holds the Christopher Strachey Professorship at Oxford University Computing Laboratory. He is well known for playing a leading role in the development of game semantics...
FRS, Jean-Raymond Abrial
Jean-Raymond Abrial
Jean-Raymond Abrial is a French computer scientist and inventor of the Z and B formal methods.J.-R. Abrial is the father of the Z notation , during his time at the Programming Research Group within the Oxford University Computing Laboratory, and later the B-Method , two leading...
(France/Switzerland), Dines Bjørner
Dines Bjørner
Professor Dines Bjørner is a Danish computer scientist.He specializes in research into domain engineering, requirements engineering and formal methods. He worked with Cliff Jones and others on the Vienna Development Method at IBM in Vienna...
(Denmark), Robin Bloomfield, Richard Bornat
Richard Bornat
Richard Bornat , is a noted British author and researcher in the field of computer science. He is also professor of Computer programming at Middlesex University. Previously he was at Queen Mary, University of London.- Research :...
, Egon Börger
Egon Börger
Egon Börger is a German-born computer scientist based in Italy.Professor Egon Börger was born in Bad Laer, Lower Saxony, Germany. Between 1965 and 1971 he studied at the Sorbonne, Paris , Université Catholique de Louvain and Institut Supérieur de Philosophie de Louvain , University of Münster...
(Italy), Jan Broenink (The Netherlands), Michael Butler, Muffy Caulder, Mike Gordon
Michael J. C. Gordon
Michael John Caldwell Gordon, British computer scientist .Mike Gordon led the development of the HOL theorem prover. The HOL system is an environment for interactive theorem proving in a higher-order logic. Its most outstanding feature is its high degree of programmability through the meta-language...
FRS, Anthony Hall
J. Anthony Hall
J. Anthony Hall FREng is a leading British software engineer specializing in the use of formal methods, especially the Z notation.Anthony Hall was educated at the University of Oxford with a BA in chemistry and a DPhil in theoretical chemistry...
, Mark Harman
Mark Harman (computer scientist)
Mark Harman is a British computer scientist. Since 2004 he has been a Professor at King's College London, where he leads the Software Engineering Group. He is also Director of the Centre for Research on Evolution Search and Testing , a research laboratory at KCL.Harman studied software engineering...
, Martin Henson
Martin Henson
Professor Martin C. Henson FBCS FRSA is an English computer scientist based at the University of Essex. He is Dean of International Development and is affiliated to the School of Computer Science & Electronic Engineering....
, Jane Hillston
Jane Hillston
Jane Hillston is Professor of Quantitative Modelling and an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow in the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Scotland....
, Mike Hinchey, Mike Holcombe, Michael Jackson
Michael A. Jackson
Michael Anthony Jackson is a British computer scientist, and independent computing consultant in London, England. He is also part-time researcher at AT&T Research, Florham Park, NJ, U.S., and visiting research professor at the Open University in the UK.- Biography :Jackson was educated at Harrow...
, Cliff Jones, Marta Kwiatkowska
Marta Kwiatkowska
Marta Z. Kwiatkowska is a computer scientist based in the United Kingdom. She is Professor of Computing Systems at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory, University of Oxford, England....
, Tom Maibaum
Tom Maibaum
Prof. Tom Maibaum is a British-Canadian computer scientist.Maibaum has an undergraduate degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of Toronto, Canada , and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of London, England .Professor Maibaum has held academic posts at Imperial College, London,...
, Ursula Martin
Ursula Martin
Ursula Martin is a British computer scientist. She is Vice-Principal of Science and Engineering at Queen Mary, University of London and a Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science there....
, Peter Mosses
Peter Mosses
Peter D. Mosses is a British computer scientist.Peter Mosses studied mathematics as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Oxford, and went on to undertake a DPhil supervised by Christopher Strachey in the Programming Research Group while at Wolfson College, Oxford in the early 1970s...
, Ben Moszkowski, Peter O'Hearn
Peter O'Hearn
Peter William O'Hearn is a computer scientist based in the United Kingdom.Peter O'Hearn attained a BSc degree in Computer Science from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia , followed by MSc and PhD degrees fromQueen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada...
, Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves (computer scientist)
Prof. Steve Reeves is a computer scientist based at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. He is the Associate Dean and the Programme Co-ordinator of Software Engineering. He has undertaken research work on the Z notation, formal methods for GUI design and a general theory of refinement.Steve...
(New Zealand), John Reynolds
John C. Reynolds
John C. Reynolds is an American computer scientist.John Reynolds studied at Purdue University and then earned a PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard University in 1961. He was Professor of Information science at Syracuse University from 1970 to 1986. Since then he has been Professor of Computer...
(USA), Peter Ryan, Steve Schneider, John Tucker
John V. Tucker
John Vivian Tucker is a British computer scientist and expert on computability theory, also known as recursion theory. Computability theory is about what can and cannot be computed by people and machines...
, Phil Wadler, among others.
In 2010, a book of chapters based on some of these talks was published.
Talks are held annually with Formal Methods Europe
Formal Methods Europe
Formal Methods Europe is an organization whose aim is to encourage the research and application of formal methods for the improvement of software and hardware in computer-based systems. The association's members are drawn from academia and industry. It is based in Europe, but is international in...
and the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
(at the LMS headquarters in central London).
See also
- British Computer SocietyBritish Computer SocietyThe British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
- FACS
- Formal methodsFormal methodsIn computer science and software engineering, formal methods are a particular kind of mathematically-based techniques for the specification, development and verification of software and hardware systems...
- Formal Methods EuropeFormal Methods EuropeFormal Methods Europe is an organization whose aim is to encourage the research and application of formal methods for the improvement of software and hardware in computer-based systems. The association's members are drawn from academia and industry. It is based in Europe, but is international in...
(FME) - F. X. ReidF. X. ReidF. X. Reid is the pen name of British computer science academic Mike W. Shields.Reid has been a long-time and contributor to the British Computer Society FACS Specialist Group newsletter FACS FACTS. He has been an enthusiast for the COMEFROM statement and an expert on its semantics...
, FACS FACTS contributor
External links
- BCS-FACS website
- Alternative BCS-FACS web address
- BCS-FACS group, LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...
- BCS-FACS information on the Formal Methods Wiki
- Former BCS-FACS website (2008) on Archive.org