1,295 research outputs found
A Denotational Semantics for Communicating Unstructured Code
An important property of programming language semantics is that they should
be compositional. However, unstructured low-level code contains goto-like
commands making it hard to define a semantics that is compositional. In this
paper, we follow the ideas of Saabas and Uustalu to structure low-level code.
This gives us the possibility to define a compositional denotational semantics
based on least fixed points to allow for the use of inductive verification
methods. We capture the semantics of communication using finite traces similar
to the denotations of CSP. In addition, we examine properties of this semantics
and give an example that demonstrates reasoning about communication and jumps.
With this semantics, we lay the foundations for a proof calculus that captures
both, the semantics of unstructured low-level code and communication.Comment: In Proceedings FESCA 2015, arXiv:1503.0437
A Hoare-like logic of asserted single-pass instruction sequences
We present a formal system for proving the partial correctness of a
single-pass instruction sequence as considered in program algebra by
decomposition into proofs of the partial correctness of segments of the
single-pass instruction sequence concerned. The system is similar to Hoare
logics, but takes into account that, by the presence of jump instructions,
segments of single-pass instruction sequences may have multiple entry points
and multiple exit points. It is intended to support a sound general
understanding of the issues with Hoare-like logics for low-level programming
languages.Comment: 22 pages, the preliminaries have textual overlaps with the
preliminaries in arXiv:1402.4950 [cs.LO] and earlier papers; introduction and
conclusions rewritten, explanatory remarks added; introduction partly
rewritten; 24 pages, clarifying examples adde
Compiler verification meets cross-language linking via data abstraction
Many real programs are written in multiple different programming languages, and supporting this pattern creates challenges for formal compiler verification. We describe our Coq verification of a compiler for a high-level language, such that the compiler correctness theorem allows us to derive partial-correctness Hoare-logic theorems for programs built by linking the assembly code output by our compiler and assembly code produced by other means. Our compiler supports such tricky features as storable cross-language function pointers, without giving up the usual benefits of being able to verify different compiler phases (including, in our case, two classic optimizations) independently. The key technical innovation is a mixed operational and axiomatic semantics for the source language, with a built-in notion of abstract data types, such that compiled code interfaces with other languages only through axiomatically specified methods that mutate encapsulated private data, represented in whatever formats are most natural for those languages.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CCF-1253229)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Agreement FA8750-12-2-0293)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Science (Award DE-SC0008923
Fifty years of Hoare's Logic
We present a history of Hoare's logic.Comment: 79 pages. To appear in Formal Aspects of Computin
An observationally complete program logic for imperative higher-order functions
We establish a strong completeness property called observational completeness of the program logic for imperative, higher-order functions introduced in [1]. Observational completeness states that valid assertions characterise program behaviour up to observational congruence, giving a precise correspondence between operational and axiomatic semantics. The proof layout for the observational completeness which uses a restricted syntactic structure called finite canonical forms originally introduced in game-based semantics, and characteristic formulae originally introduced in the process calculi, is generally applicable for a precise axiomatic characterisation of more complex program behaviour, such as aliasing and local state
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