The formalism and language tools for semantics specification of software libraries

The paper is dedicated to the specification of the structure and the behaviour of software libraries. It describes the existing problems of libraries specifications. A brief overview of the research field concerned with formalizing the specification of libraries and library functions is presented. The requirements imposed on the formalism designed are established; the formalism based on these requirements allows specifying all the properties of the libraries needed for automation of several classes of problems: defects detection in the software, migration of applications into a new environment, generation of software documentation. The requirements on the language tools based on the developed formalism are proposed. The conclusion defines potential directions for further research.