Mondex is a digital payment system that was developed in the late 1990s as a form of electronic cash or digital currency. It was designed to operate in a manner similar to cash, allowing users to store and transfer value electronically, often using smart cards. The system aimed to provide a secure and convenient way for individuals to make transactions without relying on traditional banking infrastructure.

The QED Manifesto refers to a document created by the QED (Quality Education for All) movement, which advocates for high standards in educational practices. The manifesto outlines the essential principles and goals of the movement, emphasizing the importance of providing equitable, inclusive, and high-quality education to all individuals, regardless of their background. It typically addresses various aspects of education, including teaching methodologies, curriculum design, accessibility, and the role of technology in enhancing learning experiences.

RCOS stands for the "Rochester Institute of Technology's Collaborative Open Source" initiative, which is associated with the RIT community. However, in a broader sense within computer science and software development, "RCOS" may also refer to concepts related to collaborative software development practices and open-source projects.

Predicate transformer semantics is a formal method used in the field of program semantics, particularly in the context of reasoning about the correctness of programs. It primarily deals with the relationship between program statements and their effects on logical predicates, which represent the properties of the program's state. ### Key Concepts 1. **Predicates**: These are logical assertions about the state of a program or a variable. For instance, a predicate might express whether a variable `x` is greater than zero.

Process validation is a systematic approach used primarily in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries to ensure that a specific process consistently produces a product that meets its predetermined specifications and quality attributes. The goal of process validation is to demonstrate that the processes are capable of consistently delivering products that are safe, effective, and of high quality.

In computing, "retrenchment" is a formalism used in the context of software development and formal verification, particularly when dealing with changes in system requirements or specifications. It refers to a process of incrementally refining system specifications while managing the introduction of changes or the relaxation of certain requirements. Retrenchment is particularly useful in situations where it is not feasible to achieve a completely formal refinement due to various constraints, such as the complexity of the system, cost, or time considerations.

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a software development process framework created by Rational Software (now part of IBM) that provides a disciplined approach to assigning tasks and responsibilities within a development organization. RUP is characterized by its iterative and incremental development, which helps teams manage the complexities of software engineering projects.

An **augmented marked graph** is a concept used primarily in the areas of computer science and network theory, particularly in the study of graph theory, systems modeling, and workflow systems. The term can refer to several key aspects related to marked graphs and their properties. Typically, a marked graph consists of a directed graph with additional information that helps in the representation of certain characteristics of the system being modeled.

The B-Method is a formal method used in software engineering for the specification, development, and verification of software systems. It is based on mathematical logic, particularly set theory and first-order logic, and emphasizes rigorous proofs of correctness. Here are some key aspects of the B-Method: 1. **Formal Specification**: The B-Method allows developers to specify the desired properties and behaviors of software systems formally.

SIGNAL is a programming language designed specifically for the specification and implementation of reactive systems, particularly in real-time and embedded applications. It focuses on modeling systems where events and time play a critical role, allowing developers to describe how systems respond to external stimuli. The main features of SIGNAL include: 1. **Data Flow Programming Paradigm**: SIGNAL is based on data flow principles, meaning that computations are expressed as directed graphs where data moves between different nodes representing operations.

SLAM stands for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. It is a computational problem that involves creating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of the location of a device (such as a robot or a vehicle) within that environment. SLAM is widely used in robotics, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, and other applications where navigation in an unfamiliar area is required.

Syntactic methods refer to approaches and techniques used in the analysis, processing, and generation of language based on its structure and grammatical rules. They focus on the formal aspects of languages, whether natural languages (like English, Spanish, etc.) or programming languages, emphasizing how words and symbols are arranged to form valid phrases, sentences, or expressions.

Eiffel is a high-level programming language that was designed by Bertrand Meyer and first released in the late 1980s. It is known for its focus on object-oriented programming (OOP) principles and comes with features that promote software reliability and maintainability. Some key aspects of Eiffel include: 1. **Object-Oriented Design:** Eiffel supports a robust object-oriented model, enabling developers to create reusable and extensible software components.

Formal specification is a method of defining system properties and requirements using mathematical models and formal languages. It serves as a precise way to describe the behavior, structure, and constraints of a software system or hardware design. The primary goal of formal specifications is to provide a clear and unambiguous description that can be used for various purposes, including: 1. **Verification**: Formal specifications can be rigorously tested and verified against mathematical criteria to ensure that a system behaves as intended.

A Message Sequence Chart (MSC) is a type of diagram used in the fields of software engineering and systems design to visually represent the interactions between different entities (such as objects or components) over time. The primary purpose of an MSC is to illustrate the sequence of messages exchanged and the order in which those messages are sent and received.

Verification and validation (V&V) are critical processes in the development of computer simulation models that ensure the models are both accurate and reliable for their intended applications. ### Verification Verification is the process of determining whether a simulation model correctly implements the intended algorithms and mathematical formulations. In other words, it checks if the model has been built right. Key aspects of verification include: 1. **Code Verification**: Ensuring that the code is error-free and behaves as expected.

Hardware Verification Languages (HVLs) are specialized programming languages used to describe and automate the testing and verification of hardware designs, particularly in the context of digital circuit design and integrated circuits (ICs). They enable designers and verification engineers to write testbench code, specify properties, and validate that the design meets its intended functionality and performance before fabrication.

Synchronous programming languages are a category of programming languages designed to support the development of real-time applications through constructs that enable deterministic temporal behavior. These languages provide mechanisms to ensure that the operations of a program can be executed in a synchronized manner with respect to time, making them suitable for systems that require precise timing control, such as embedded systems, telecommunications, and automotive applications.

Action Semantics is a formal approach to defining the semantics of programming languages. It was introduced in the late 1980s as a way to provide a more intuitive and flexible framework for understanding the behavior of programs compared to traditional denotational and operational semantics. In Action Semantics, the meaning of a program or a language construct is described in terms of "actions" that represent state changes and the interactions that occur during the execution of a program.

Coupled DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) is a formalism used in modeling and simulating discrete-event systems. The behavior of coupled DEVS is characterized by how individual components (models) interact with each other to form a larger system. Here are some key aspects of their behavior: 1. **Modularity**: Coupled DEVS allows the construction of complex systems from simpler, modular components (atomic DEVS). Each component can be modeled independently and then combined into a larger structure.