COMPUTING SCIENCE Turing and Software Verification

Modern society relies heavily on computer programs or 'software'. Nearly everyone is aware that software sometimes malfunctions – it has 'bugs'. In a little known paper from 1949, Alan Turing described a technique for Checking a Large Routine; this paper might have accelerated the development of the subject of reasoning about software by decades, but sadly this gem from Turing had little impact. The current paper sets out the challenge to which Turing was responding, compares his proposals to those that came in the late 1960s, reflects on the missing impact and offers a summary of the state of the art. © 2014 Newcastle University. Printed and published by Newcastle University, Computing Science, Claremont Tower, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England. Bibliographical details