Behavioral types in programming languages

A recent trend in programming language research is to use behav- ioral type theory to ensure various correctness properties of large- scale, communication-intensive systems. Behavioral types encompass concepts such as interfaces, communication protocols, contracts, and choreography. The successful application of behavioral types requires a solid understanding of several practical aspects, from their represen- tation in a concrete programming language, to their integration with other programming constructs such as methods and functions, to de- sign and monitoring methodologies that take behaviors into account. This survey provides an overview of the state of the art of these aspects, which we summarize as the pragmatics of behavioral types

Parametric Protocol-Driven Agents and their Integration in JADE

Abstract. In this paper we introduce "Template Global Types" which extend Constrained Global Types to support a more generic and modular approach to define protocols, meant as patterns of events of a given type. Protocols can be used both for monitoring the behavior of distributed computational entities and for driving it. In this paper we show the potential of Template Global Types in the domain of protocol-driven intelligent software agents. The interpreter for "executing" Template Global Types has a very natural implementation in Prolog which can easily implement the transition rules for moving from one state to another one, given that an event has been perceived (in case of monitoring) or generated for execution (in case of protocol-driven behavior). This interpreter has been integrated into the Jason logic-based agent framework with limited effort, thanks to the native support that Jason offers to Prolog. In order to demonstrate the flexibility and portability of our approach, which goes beyond the boundaries of logic-based frameworks, in this paper we discuss the integration of the protocol-driven interpreter into the JADE agent framework, entirely implemented in Java

Monitoring Networks through Multiparty Session Types

In large-scale distributed infrastructures, applications are realised through communications among distributed components. The need for methods for assuring safe interactions in such environments is recognised, however the existing frameworks, relying on centralised verification or restricted specification methods, have limited applicability. This paper proposes a new theory of monitored π-calculus with dynamic usage of multiparty session types (MPST), offering a rigorous foundation for safety assurance of distributed components which asynchronously communicate through multiparty sessions. Our theory establishes a framework for semantically precise decentralised run-time enforcement and provides reasoning principles over monitored distributed applications, which complement existing static analysis techniques. We introduce asynchrony through the means of explicit routers and global queues, and propose novel equivalences between networks, that capture the notion of interface equivalence, i.e. equating networks offering the same services to a user. We illustrate our static–dynamic analysis system with an ATM protocol as a running example and justify our theory with results: satisfaction equivalence, local/global safety and transparency, and session fidelity