Z User Group

The Z User Group (ZUG) was established in 1992 to promote use and development of the Z notation, a formal specification language for the description of and reasoning about computer-based systems.^[3][4][5] It was formally constituted on 14 December 1992 during the ZUM'92 Z User Meeting^[6] in London, England.^[7]

Z User Group

Abbreviation	ZUG[1]
Named after	Z notation
Formation	14 December 1992; 31 years ago (1992-12-14)
Founder	John Nicholls
Founded at	London, England
Type	User group
Purpose	Support for Z notation activities, especially meetings
Location	Oxford, United Kingdom
Region served	International[2]
Services	Conference organization
Methods	Z notation
Fields	Computer science, software engineering, formal methods
Official language	English
Chair	Steve Reeves
Secretary	Randolph Johnson
Key people	John Nicholls; Jonathan Bowen; Mike Hinchey; Steve King
Main organ	Conference proceedings
Affiliations	Formal Methods Europe
Website	zuser.org

Meetings and conferences

ZUG has organised a series of Z User Meetings approximately every 18 months initially.^[8][6][9] From 2000, these became the ZB Conference (jointly with the B-Method, co-organized with APCB), and from 2008 the ABZ Conference (with abstract state machines as well). In 2010, the ABZ Conference also includes Alloy, a Z-like specification language with associated tool support.^[10]

The Z User Group participated at the FM'99 World Congress on Formal Methods in Toulouse, France, in 1999.^[11] The group and the associated Z notation have been studied as a community of practice.^[12]

List of proceedings

The following proceedings were produced by the Z User Group:^[13][14]

• Bowen, J.P.; Nicholls, J.E., eds. (1993). Z User Workshop, London 1992, Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Z User Meeting, 14–15 December 1992. Springer, Workshops in Computing. ISBN 978-0387198187
• Bowen, J.P.; Hall, J.A., eds. (1994). Z User Workshop, Cambridge 1994, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Z User Meeting, 29–30 June 1994. Springer, Workshops in Computing. ISBN 978-3540198840
• Bowen, J.P.; Hinchey, M.G, eds. (1995). ZUM '95: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 9th International Conference of Z Users, Limerick, Ireland, September 7–9, 1995. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 967. ISBN 978-3540602712
• Bowen, J.P.; Hinchey, M.G.; Till, D., eds. (1997). ZUM '97: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 10th International Conference of Z Users, Reading, UK, April 3–4, 1997. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1212. ISBN 978-3540627173
• Bowen, J.P.; Fett, A.; Hinchey, M.G., eds. (1998). ZUM '98: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 11th International Conference of Z Users, Berlin, Germany, September 24–26, 1998. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1493. ISBN 978-3540650706

The following ZB conference proceedings were jointly produced with the Association de Pilotage des Conférences B (APCB), covering the Z notation and the related B-Method:^[13]

• Bowen, J.P.; Dunne, S.; Galloway, A.; King. S., eds. (2000). ZB 2000: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B, First International Conference of B and Z Users, York, UK, August 29 – September 2, 2000. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1878. ISBN 978-3540679448
• Bert, D.; Bowen, J.P.; Henson, M.C.; Robinson, K., eds. (2002). ZB 2002: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: 2nd International Conference of B and Z Users Grenoble, France, January 23–25, 2002. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 2272. ISBN 978-3540431664
• Bert, D.; Bowen, J.P.; King, S.; Walden, M., eds. (2003). ZB 2003: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: Third International Conference of B and Z Users, Turku, Finland, June 4–6, 2003. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 2651. ISBN 978-3540402534
• Treharne, H.; King, S.; Henson, M.C.; Schneider, S., eds. (2005). ZB 2005: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: 4th International Conference of B and Z Users, Guildford, UK, April 13–15, 2005. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3455. ISBN 978-3540255598

From 2008, the ZB conferences were expanded to be the ABZ conference, also including abstract state machines.^[15]

Chair and secretary

Successive chairs have been:

• John Nicholls (1992–1994)
• Jonathan Bowen (1994–2011)
• Steve Reeves (2011–)

Successive secretaries have been:

• Mike Hinchey (1994–2011)
• Randolph Johnson (2011–)

See also

• Formal methods

References

1. Sayeed, Ahmed (2021). Abbreviations. Sankalp Publication. p. 371. ISBN 978-9390636693.
2. Yearbook of International Organizations. Vol. 1. Union of International Associations. 2017.
3. Bowen, J.P. (September 1993). "Z User Group activities". JFIT News. 46: 5.
4. Bowen, J.P. (1994). "Z User Meeting Activities". High Integrity Systems. 1 (1): 93–94.
5. Tucker, Allen B., ed. (2004). Computer Science Handbook. CRC Press. pp. 106–24. ISBN 978-0203494455.
6. Bowen, J.P.; Nicholls, J.E., eds. (1993). Z User Workshop, London 1992. Workshops in Computing. Springer.
7. "Z User Group (ZUG)". Global Civil Society Database. UIA. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
8. Nicholls, J.E., ed. (1992). Z User Workshop, York 1991. Workshops in Computing. Springer.
9. Bowen, J.P.; Hall, J.A., eds. (1994). Z User Workshop, Cambridge 1994. Workshops in Computing. Springer. ISBN 3-540-19884-9.
10. Frappier, M., Glässer, U.; Khurshid, S., Laleau, R., and Reeves, S. (eds.), Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B and Z: Second International Conference, ABZ 2010, Orford, QC, Canada, February 22–25, 2010, Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 5977, 2010. ISBN 978-3-642-11810-4.
11. "Z User Group Meeting (ZUG)". FM'99 World Congress. Toulouse, France. 20–24 September 1999. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007.
12. Bowen, J.P.; Reeves, S. (2011). "From a Community of Practice to a Body of Knowledge: A Case Study of the Formal Methods Community". In Butler, M.; Schulte, W. (eds.). FM 2011: Formal Methods. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 6664. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 308–322. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-21437-0_24.
13. "International Conference on Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B, TLA, VDM, and Z (ABZ) – International Conference of B and Z Users (ZB) – International Z User Meeting (ZUM) – Z User Workshop". DBLP. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
14. Bowen, Jonathan (July 2022). "The Z User Group: Thirty Years After" (PDF). FACS FACTS. No. 2022–2. BCS-FACS. pp. 50–56. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
15. Börger, E.; Butler, M.J.; Bowen, J.P.; Boca, P., eds. (2008). Abstract State Machines, B and Z, First International Conference, ABZ 2008, London, UK, September 16–18, 2008. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 5238. ISBN 978-3540876021

External links

• Z User Group