GNU Nana is a free library providing improved support for assertion checking and logging in GNU C and C++. It provides support for some of the ideas of Eiffel, VDM, Z and Anna in GNU C/C++ (and in the past/future even Ada). Applications include:

o Using "Design by Contract" in C/C++
o Automated testing
o Real time systems (both hard and soft)
o Program visualisation
o Embedded Systems
o Formal methods such as Z or VDM

The talk will concentrate on the application of these ideas in real systems. These techniques have been applied industrially in the development of a series of embedded (inside people) systems with promising results (low cost, surprisingly high reliability).