AsCheck

AsCheck is a software framework for automated checking and verification of system properties, with particular emphasis on asynchronous and distributed software. It aims to help developers and researchers ensure correctness of complex interactions by combining static analysis, model checking, and runtime verification in a single workflow.

Overview: The framework accepts models of a system and a set of properties described in a specialized specification language inspired by temporal logics. The analysis engine can perform exhaustive model checking on finite-state abstractions and perform bounded or symbolic analysis for larger systems. When a property is violated, AsCheck can generate counterexamples and traces to aid debugging. The tool emphasizes interoperability, enabling integration with common development environments and continuous integration pipelines.

Architecture: AsCheck comprises a model parser that translates source or model-language descriptions into an intermediate representation, a property specification module, an analysis engine, and a visualization or report generator. It supports plug-in backends for different theories, such as automata-based, SMT-based, or probabilistic verification, and offers optional runtime verification hooks to monitor systems in operation.

History and adoption: AsCheck emerged from academic research into automated verification methods and has since found its way into pilot projects in software engineering and research groups. It is described in academic literature as an example of integrated verification tooling and has influenced subsequent tools in the formal verification space.

Applications: The tool is used for verifying safety properties in communication protocols, guaranteeing deadlock avoidance in concurrent software, and validating correctness of distributed algorithms. It is also used as a teaching aid to illustrate verification concepts.

See also: Model checking, formal verification, static analysis, runtime verification, temporal logic.