Jean-Raymond Abrial, Z, Socrate, B, Event-B, Rodin

  https://tase2026.github.io/c_cs.html With a celebration of JRA, including a 15-minute talk by Jonathan Bowen 17:00-18:00 Gedenkschrift for Jean-Raymond Abrial

 BCS-FACS Online SeminarDate and time Thursday 25 June, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Location Online Free registration < https://www.bcs.org/events-calendar/2026/june/hybrid-why-might-we-teach-formal-methods-informally-and-to-whom-and-when/ > Note that this event is online only. Timetable 11:00 am - Talk 12:00 pm - Questions and answers 1:00 pm - Event closes Seminar Details Title: Why might we teach "Formal Methods" informally? And to whom? And when? Speaker: Carroll Morgan Abstract: Formal Methods (for computing) was enabled by Hoare's “An axiomatic basis for computer programming” in 1969, where Formal meant “in the sense of formal logic”, i.e. reasoning based on manipulation of symbols which themselves had no intrinsic meaning (in the sense of Hilbert). Hoare's paper had itself been enabled by Floyd's “Assigning meanings to programs” just two years earlier, whose informal message might well have been -- in retrospect at least -- “Don...

Jonathan Bowen, Henri Habrias Abstract: Jean-Raymond Abrial is one of the central figures in the development of formal methods for software and systems engineering. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has played a decisive role in the creation of the Z specification notation, the B-Method, and Event-B and in demonstrating their applicability to large-scale industrial systems. This article presents a scholarly biographical account of Abrial’s life and work, tracing the evolution of his ideas from early work on real-time languages and databases, through foundational contributions to formal specification, refinement, and proof, to the development of industrial-strength tool support such as the Atelier B and the Rodin platform. The article situates Abrial’s contributions within their historical, intellectual, and industrial contexts and assesses their lasting impact on software engineering and formal reasoning about programs.   Published in: IEEE Annals of ...

  Extract from FACS FACTS Issue 2025-2 July 2025 In memory of Jean-Raymond Abrial (1938–2025) August 31, 2025 https://www.bcs.org/media/yd4ocehl/facs-jul25.pdf   FACS FACTS Issue 2025-2 July 2025 In memory of Jean-Raymond Abrial (1938–2025)      I didn't work directly with Professor Abrial, but I owe him much ! A brilliant and dedicated teacher Firstly, he was my teacher (two years) during computer science master at IMAG Grenoble  (1971/72). In 1971 he gave us a strong basis in data management. The classes were   fascinating; the lecture hall was truly captivated, the examples being "telling"   despite being based on a rigorous theoretical foundation. I still have  hand-written lecture support  for additionnal courses that he gave for   free at university in the evening, after normal hours.  This document (215 pages) was produced with an alcohol duplicator. He used  a lot of  figures,  graphs and e...