Verification in the Grand Challenge

Abstract

We review Tony Hoare’s verification challenge. We start in 2003 with his challenge to construct a verifying compiler and his continuing theme on unifying theo\xad ries in computer science. We describe the industrial-scale pilot projects that were proposed to drive this challenge forward: NatWest’s Mondex smart card, NASA’s space-flight flash filestore, Ofcom’s radio spectrum auctions, Microsoft’s hypervi\xad sor, NSA’s Tokeneer identification station, Wittenstein’s FreeRTOS real-time ker\xad nel, and Boston Scientific’s cardiac pacemaker. We go into detail on the conduct and achievements of the Tokeneer project. We discuss the wider impact of the ver\xad ification challenge and the sea change since 2003. We look forward to the next 15 years and suggest a pilot project in robotics for the verification community.