Z User Group Explained

Z User Group
Abbreviation:	ZUG^[1]
Named After:	Z notation
Founder:	John Nicholls
Founding Location:	London, England
Type:	User group
Purpose:	Support for Z notation activities, especially meetings
Location City:	Oxford
Location Country:	United Kingdom
Region Served:	International^[2]
Services:	Conference organization
Methods:	Z notation
Fields:	Computer science, software engineering, formal methods
Language:	English
Leader Title:	Chair
Leader Name:	Steve Reeves
Leader Title2:	Secretary
Leader Name2:	Randolph Johnson
Key People:	John Nicholls; Jonathan Bowen; Mike Hinchey; Steve King
Main Organ:	Conference proceedings
Affiliations:	Formal Methods Europe
Website:	zuser.org

The Z User Group (ZUG) was established in 1992 to promote use and development of the Z notation, a formal specification language for the description of and reasoning about computer-based systems.^{[3] [4] [5]} It was formally constituted on 14 December 1992 during the ZUM'92 Z User Meeting in London, England.^[6]

Meetings and conferences

ZUG has organised a series of Z User Meetings approximately every 18 months initially.^{[7] [8] [9]} From 2000, these became the ZB Conference (jointly with the B-Method, co-organized with APCB), and from 2008 the ABZ Conference (with abstract state machines as well). In 2010, the ABZ Conference also includes Alloy, a Z-like specification language with associated tool support.^[10]

The Z User Group participated at the FM'99 World Congress on Formal Methods in Toulouse, France, in 1999.^[11] The group and the associated Z notation have been studied as a community of practice.^[12]

List of proceedings

The following proceedings were produced by the Z User Group:^{[13] [14]}

• Bowen, J.P.; Nicholls, J.E., eds. (1993). Z User Workshop, London 1992, Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Z User Meeting, 14–15 December 1992. Springer, Workshops in Computing.
• Bowen, J.P.; Hall, J.A., eds. (1994). Z User Workshop, Cambridge 1994, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Z User Meeting, 29–30 June 1994. Springer, Workshops in Computing.
• Bowen, J.P.; Hinchey, M.G, eds. (1995). ZUM '95: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 9th International Conference of Z Users, Limerick, Ireland, September 7–9, 1995. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 967.
• Bowen, J.P.; Hinchey, M.G.; Till, D., eds. (1997). ZUM '97: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 10th International Conference of Z Users, Reading, UK, April 3–4, 1997. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1212.
• Bowen, J.P.; Fett, A.; Hinchey, M.G., eds. (1998). ZUM '98: The Z Formal Specification Notation, 11th International Conference of Z Users, Berlin, Germany, September 24–26, 1998. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1493.

The following ZB conference proceedings were jointly produced with the Association de Pilotage des Conférences B (APCB), covering the Z notation and the related B-Method:

• Bowen, J.P.; Dunne, S.; Galloway, A.; King. S., eds. (2000). ZB 2000: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B, First International Conference of B and Z Users, York, UK, August 29 – September 2, 2000. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 1878.
• Bert, D.; Bowen, J.P.; Henson, M.C.; Robinson, K., eds. (2002). ZB 2002: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: 2nd International Conference of B and Z Users Grenoble, France, January 23–25, 2002. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 2272.
• Bert, D.; Bowen, J.P.; King, S.; Walden, M., eds. (2003). ZB 2003: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: Third International Conference of B and Z Users, Turku, Finland, June 4–6, 2003. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 2651.
• Treharne, H.; King, S.; Henson, M.C.; Schneider, S., eds. (2005). ZB 2005: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B: 4th International Conference of B and Z Users, Guildford, UK, April 13–15, 2005. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3455.

From 2008, the ZB conferences were expanded to be the ABZ conference, also including abstract state machines.^[15]

Chair and secretary

Successive chairs have been:

• John Nicholls (1992–1994)
• Jonathan Bowen (1994–2011)
• Steve Reeves (2011–)

Successive secretaries have been:

• Mike Hinchey (1994–2011)
• Randolph Johnson (2011–)

See also

• Formal methods

External links

• Z User Group

Notes and References

1. Book: Sayeed, Ahmed . Abbreviations . 978-9390636693 . Sankalp Publication . 2021 . 371 .
2. Book: Yearbook of International Organizations . 1 . 2017 . .
3. J.P. . Bowen . Jonathan Bowen . Z User Group activities. JFIT News . 46 . 5 . September 1993 .
4. J.P. . Bowen . Z User Meeting Activities . High Integrity Systems . 1 . 1 . 93–94 . 1994 .
5. Book: Computer Science Handbook . 2004 . 978-0203494455 . . Allen B. . Tucker . 106–24 .
6. Web site: Z User Group (ZUG) . . Global Civil Society Database . 8 June 2022 .
7. Book: Z User Workshop, York 1991 . J.E. . Nicholls . 1992 . Springer . Workshops in Computing .
8. Book: Z User Workshop, London 1992 . J.P. . Bowen . J.E. . Nicholls . 1993 . Springer . Workshops in Computing .
9. Book: Z User Workshop, Cambridge 1994 . 3-540-19884-9 . J.P. . Bowen . J.A. . Hall . 1994 . Springer . Workshops in Computing .
10. Frappier, M., Glässer, U.; Khurshid, S., Laleau, R., and Reeves, S. (eds.), Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B and Z: Second International Conference, ABZ 2010, Orford, QC, Canada, February 22–25, 2010, Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 5977, 2010. .
11. Web site: Z User Group Meeting (ZUG) . https://web.archive.org/web/20070706210024/http://vl.fmnet.info/fm99/usergroups/zug.html . dead . July 6, 2007 . FM'99 World Congress . Toulouse, France . 20–24 September 1999 .
12. Book: Bowen . J.P. . Jonathan Bowen . Reeves . S. . Steve Reeves (computer scientist) . 2011 . From a Community of Practice to a Body of Knowledge: A Case Study of the Formal Methods Community . Butler . M. . Michael Butler (computer scientist) . Schulte . W. . FM 2011: Formal Methods . . 6664 . . Berlin, Heidelberg . 10.1007/978-3-642-21437-0_24 . 308–322 .
13. Web site: International Conference on Abstract State Machines, Alloy, B, TLA, VDM, and Z (ABZ) – International Conference of B and Z Users (ZB) – International Z User Meeting (ZUM) – Z User Workshop . . 28 July 2022 .
14. News: Jonathan . Bowen . The Z User Group: Thirty Years After . . . 2022-2 . 50–56 . July 2022 . 3 August 2022 .
15. Börger, E.; Butler, M.J.; Bowen, J.P.; Boca, P., eds. (2008). Abstract State Machines, B and Z, First International Conference, ABZ 2008, London, UK, September 16–18, 2008. Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 5238.