The algebraic approach to system speci?cation and development, born in
the 1970sas a formalmethod for abstractdata types, encompassestoday the
formal design of integrated hardware and software systems, new
speci?cation fra- works and programming paradigms (such as
object-oriented, logic, and high- order functional programming) and a
wide range of application areas (including information systems,
concurrent and distributed systems). Workshops on Al-
braicDevelopmentTechniques, initiatedin1982asWorkshopsonAbstractData
Types, have become a prominent forum to present and discuss research on
this important area. The 14th International Workshop on Algebraic
Development Techniques (WADT'99) took place at the Chat ^ eau de Bonas,
near Toulouse, September 15-18,1999, and was organized by Didier Bert
and Christine Choppy. The main topics of the workshop were: - algebraic
speci?cation - other approaches to formal speci?cation - speci?cation
languages and methods - term rewriting and proof systems - speci?cation
development systems (concepts, tools, etc.). The program consisted of
invited talks by Michel Bidoit, Manfred Broy, Bart Jacobs, Natarajan
Shankar, and 69 presentations describing ongoing - search. The parallel
sessions were devoted to: algebraic speci?cations and other speci?cation
formalisms, test and validation, concurrent processes, - plications,
logics and validation, combining formalisms, subsorts and parti- ity,
structuring, rewriting, coalgebras and sketches, re?nement, institutions
and categories, ASM speci?cations. There were also sessions re?ecting -
going research achieved in the Common Framework Initiative (CoFI, see
http: //www.brics.dk/Projects/CoFI/), within its di?erent task groups:
CASL (Common Algebraic Speci?cation Language), CASL semantics, CASL
tools, methodology, and reactive systems.
