143 research outputs found

    A Symmetric Approach to Compilation and Decompilation

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    Just as specializing a source interpreter can achieve compilation from a source language to a target language, we observe that specializing a target interpreter can achieve compilation from the target language to the source language. In both cases, the key issue is the choice of whether to perform an evaluation or to emit code that represents this evaluation. We substantiate this observation by specializing two source interpreters and two target interpreters. We first consider a source language of arithmetic expressions and a target language for a stack machine, and then the lambda-calculus and the SECD-machine language. In each case, we prove that the target-to-source compiler is a left inverse of the source-to-target compiler, i.e., it is a decompiler. In the context of partial evaluation, compilation by source-interpreter specialization is classically referred to as a Futamura projection. By symmetry, it seems logical to refer to decompilation by target-interpreter specialization as a Futamura embedding

    Forms of Semantic Specification

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    The way to specify a programming language has been a topic of heated debate for some decades and at present there is no consensus on how this is best done. Real languages are almost always specified informally; nevertheless, precision is often enough lacking that more formal approaches could benefit both programmers and language implementors. My purpose is to look at a few of these formal approaches in hope of establishing some distinctions or at least stirring some discussion

    Conceptual Background for Symbolic Computation

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    This paper is a tutorial which examines the three major models of computation--the Turing Machine, Combinators, and Lambda Calculus--with respect to their usefulness to practical engineering of computing machines. While the classical von Neumann architecture can be deduced from the Turing Machine model, and Combinator machines have been built on an experimental basis, no serious attempts have been made to construct a Lambda Calculus machine. This paper gives a basic outline of how to incorporate a Lambda Calculus capability into a von Neumann type architecture, maintaining full backward compatibility and at the same time making optimal use of its advantages and technological maturity for the Lambda Calculus capability

    The Linear Logical Abstract Machine

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    We derive an abstract machine from the Curry-Howard correspondence with a sequent calculus presentation of Intuitionistic Propositional Linear Logic. The states of the register based abstract machine comprise a low-level code block, a register bank and a dump holding suspended procedure activations. Transformation of natural deduction proofs into our sequent calculus yields a type-preserving compilation function from the Linear Lambda Calculus to the abstract machine. We prove correctness of the abstract machine with respect to the standard call-by-value evaluation semantics of the Linear Lambda CalculusLaboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzad

    The next 700 Krivine Machines

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    International audienceThe Krivine machine is a simple and natural implementation of the normal weak-head reduction strategy for pure lambda-terms. While its original description has remained unpublished, this machine has served as a basis for many variants, extensions and theoretical studies. In this paper, we present the Krivine machine and some well-known variants in a common framework. Our framework consists of a hierarchy of intermediate languages that are subsets of the lambda-calculus. The whole implementation process (compiler + abstract machine) is described via a sequence of transformations all of which express an implementation choice. We characterize the essence of the Krivine machine and locate it in the design space of functional language implementations. We show that, even within the particular class of Krivine machines, hundreds of variants can be designed

    An Analytical Approach to Programs as Data Objects

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    This essay accompanies a selection of 32 articles (referred to in bold face in the text and marginally marked in the bibliographic references) submitted to Aarhus University towards a Doctor Scientiarum degree in Computer Science.The author's previous academic degree, beyond a doctoral degree in June 1986, is an "Habilitation à diriger les recherches" from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) in France; the corresponding material was submitted in September 1992 and the degree was obtained in January 1993.The present 32 articles have all been written since 1993 and while at DAIMI.Except for one other PhD student, all co-authors are or have been the author's students here in Aarhus
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