Ten Commandments of Formal Methods

The ten commandments of formal methods are:
  1. Thou shalt choose an appropriate notation.

    By relieving the mind of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race.

  2. Thou shalt formalize but not over-formalize.

  3. Thou shalt estimate costs.

  4. Thou shalt have a formal methods guru on call.

  5. Thou shalt not abandon thy traditional development methods.

  6. Thou shalt document sufficiently.

  7. Thou shalt not compromise thy quality standards.

  8. Thou shalt not be dogmatic.

  9. Thou shalt test, test, and test again.

  10. Thou shalt reuse.

Quoted from: Jonathon P. Bowen and Michael G. Hinchey, Ten Commandments of Formal Methods, IEEE Computer, 28(4):56--63, April 1995.