Dansk Datamatik Center
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| Abbreviation | DDC |
|---|---|
| Successor | DDC International A/S, DDC-I |
| Formation | September 1979 |
| Extinction | 1989 |
| Type | Research and development centre |
| Location | |
| Services | Computer science |
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Managing director
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Leif Rystrøm |
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Scientific leader
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Dines Bjørner |
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Manager, Ada projects
|
Ole N. Oest |
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Budget (1984)
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DKK 13 million |
|
Staff (1984)
|
40 |
| Mission | Formal methods in software development |
Dansk Datamatik Center (DDC) was a Danish software research and development centre that existed from 1979 to 1989. Its main purpose was to demonstrate the value of using modern techniques, especially those involving formal methods, in software design and development.
Three major projects dominated much of the centre's existence. The first concerned the formal specification and compilation of the CHILL programming language for use in telecommunication switches. The second involved the formal specification and compilation of the Ada programming language. Both the Ada and CHILL efforts made use of formal methods. In particular, DDC worked with Meta-IV, an early version of the specification language of the Vienna Development Method (VDM) formal method for the development of computer-based systems. As founded by Dines Bjørner, this represented the "Danish School" of VDM. This use of VDM led in 1984 to the DDC Ada compiler becoming the first European Ada compiler to be validated by the United States Department of Defense. The third major project was dedicated towards creation of a new formal method, RAISE.
The success of the Ada compiler system would lead to creation of the commercial company DDC International A/S (DDC-I, Inc. in the US) in 1985, which would develop, productise, and market it both directly and on an OEM basis.
The genesis of the centre came in spring 1979 at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) – located in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen – as the idea of one of the members of its computer science faculty, Christian Gram, who discussed it with a colleague, Dines Bjørner. Looking at the software crisis of the time, they felt that computer science had created foundational and theoretical approaches that if applied could make software development a more professional process and permit the development of large software systems on schedule and with quality.
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