PDF of this tutorialDefinition
Specification and description language (SDL) is an object-oriented, formal language defined by The International Telecommunications Union–Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU–T) (formerly Comité Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique [CCITT]) as recommendation Z.100. The language is intended for the specification of complex, event-driven, real-time, and interactive applications involving many concurrent activities that communicate using discrete signals.
Overview
This tutorial discusses the applications and reasons for the use of specification and description language (SDL). Over the last decade, the size of produced software has increased dramatically. More and more systems are multiprocess and distributed, and they execute in a heterogeneous environment. It is increasingly accepted within a steadily growing range of industrial segments that the best way to meet the needs of these systems is through formal methods. Furthermore, as the international market grows, equipment from different manufacturers must be able to communicate with each other. Therefore, the formal methods should be internationally standardized. Telecommunications software engineers have developed such methods and tools for the development of complex real-time software. SDL is an object-oriented formal language defined by the ITU–T for specification of complex, real-time applications. The strength of SDL is its ability to describe the structure, behavior, and data of a system.
