alt Hacker News> An API you rely on changes, is deprecated, etc
Formal verification will eventually lead to good, stable API design.
> Users use something in unexpected ways
> Complex behavior between interconnected systems
It happens when there's no formal verification during the design stage.
Formal verification literally means cover 100% state changes and for every possible input/output, every execution branch should be tested.
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Formal verification has nothing to do with the quality of the API.
Given the spec, formal verification can tell you if your implementation follows the spec. It cannot tell you if the spec if good
100% of state changes in business software is unknowable on a long horizon, and relies on thoroughly understanding business logic that is often fuzzy, not discrete and certain.
> Formal verification will eventually lead to good, stable API design.
Why? Has it ever happened like this? Because to me it would seem that if the system verified to work, then it works no matter how API is shaped, so there is no incentive to change it to something better.