A formal specification is a mathematics description of Software or hardware that may be used to develop an implementation. It describes what the system should do, not (necessarily) how the system should do it. Given such a specification, it is possible to use formal verification in the development process to transform a specification into a computer program using provably correct Refinement steps. It is also possible to validation the specification by proving challenge Theorem concerning its properties. If correct, these reinforce the understanding of the specification. If not, the specification probably needs to be changed to reflect the understanding of those involved with producing (and implementing) it.

The Z notation is an example of a leading formal specification language. Others include the VDM Specification Language (VDM-SL) of the Vienna Development Method and the Abstract Machine Notation (AMN) of the B-Method.

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