TWAM: A Certifying Abstract Machine for Logic Programs

Type-preserving (or typed) compilation uses typing derivations to certify correctness properties of compilation. We have designed and implemented a type-preserving compiler for a simply-typed dialect of Prolog we call T-Prolog. The crux of our approach is a new certifying abstract machine which we call the Typed Warren Abstract Machine (TWAM). The TWAM has a dependent type system strong enough to specify the semantics of a logic program in the logical framework LF. We present a soundness metatheorem which constitutes a partial correctness guarantee: well-typed programs implement the logic program specified by their type. This metatheorem justifies our design and implementation of a certifying compiler from T-Prolog to TWAM.Comment: 41 pages, under submission to ACM Transactions on Computational Logi

Foundational certified code in the Twelf metalogical framework

Foundational certified code systems seek to prove untrusted programs to be safe relative to safety policies given in terms of actual machine architectures, thereby improving the systems' flexibility and extensibility. Using the Twelf metalogical framework, we have constructed a safety policy for the IA-32 architecture with a trusted runtime library. The safety policy is based on a formalized operational semantics. We have also developed a complete, foundational proof that a fully expressive typed assembly language satisfies that safety policy.</p

Foundational Certified Code in the Twelf Metalogical Framework

Foundational certified code systems seek to prove untrusted programs to be safe relative to safety policies given in terms of actual machine architectures, thereby improving the systems ’ flexibility and extensibility. Using the Twelf metalogical framework, we have constructed a safety policy for the IA-32 architecture with a trusted runtime library. The safety policy is based on a formalized operational semantics. We have also developed a complete, foundational proof that a fully expressive typed assembly language satisfies that safety policy