Attempto Controlled English - Not Just Another Logic Specification Language

The speci cation language Attempto Controlled English (ACE) is a controlled natural language, i.e. a subset of standard English with a domain-speci c vocabulary and a restricted grammar. The restriction of full natural language to a controlled subset is essential for ACE to be suitable for speci cation purposes. The main goals of this restriction are to reduce ambiguity and vagueness inherent in full natural language and to make ACE computer processable. ACE speci cations can be unambiguously translated into logic speci cation languages, and can be queried and executed. In brief, ACE allows domain specialists to express speci cations in familiar natural language and combine this with the rigour of formal speci cation languages.