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Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Benefits of a Specification Language

2. History

3. SDL Characteristics

4. Theoretical Model and Structure

5. Sharing Information, Reuse, and Maintenance

6. Openness, Portability, Scalability, and Distributed Applications Openness

7. Graphical and Textual Notations and Application Areas

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

Graphical and Textual Notations

The SDL language supports two equivalent notations. In addition to the graphical notation (SDL–GR), the textual notation (SDL–PR) is standardized.

Application Areas

Although SDL evolved within telecommunications, it is becoming increasingly popular in other industries as well. Some examples of applications of SDL outside the telecommunication area include the following:

• satellite communications
• aeronautical standardization
• medical equipment
• railway control system
• communication protocols in cars