Universal Systems Language

Universal Systems Language is a modeling language and formal method for the specification and design of software and other complex systems. It was designed by Margaret Hamilton based on her experiences writing flight software for the Apollo program. The language is implemented through the 001 Tool Suite software by Hamilton Technologies, Inc. USL evolved from 001AXES which in turn evolved from AXES all of which are based on Hamilton's axioms of control. The 001 Tool Suite uses the preventative concept of Development Before the Fact (DBTF) for its life-cycle development process. DBTF eliminates errors as early as possible during the development process removing the need to look for errors after-the-fact.

USL was inspired by Hamilton's recognition of patterns or categories of errors occurring during Apollo software development. Errors at the interfaces between subsystem boundaries accounted for the majority of errors and were often the most subtle and most difficult to find. Each interface error was placed into a category identifying the means to prevent it by way of system definition. This process led to a set of six axioms, forming the basis for a mathematical constructive logical theory of control for designing systems that would eliminate entire classes of errors just by the way a system is defined.

Certain correctness guarantees are embedded in the USL grammar. In contrast to reactive approaches to program verification, testing for errors late into the life cycle, USL's development-before-the-fact philosophy is preventive, not allowing errors in the first place. A USL definition models both its application (for example, an avionics or banking system) and properties of control into its own life cycle. Providing a mathematical framework within which objects, their interactions, and their relationships can be captured, USL – a metalanguage – has "metamechanisms" for defining systems. USL's philosophy is that all objects are recursively reusable and reliable; reliable systems are defined in terms of reliable systems; only reliable systems are used as building blocks; and only reliable systems are used as mechanisms to integrate these building blocks to form a new system. Designers can then use the new system, along with more primitive ones, to define (and build) more comprehensive reliable systems. If a system is reliable, all the objects in all its levels and layers are reliable.

USL is regarded by some users as more user-friendly than other formal systems. It is not only a formalism for software, but also defines ontologies for common elements of problem domains, such as physical space and event timing.

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