68,379 research outputs found
Correctness of an STM Haskell implementation
A concurrent implementation of software transactional memory in Concurrent Haskell using a call-by-need functional language with processes and futures is given. The description of the small-step operational semantics is precise and explicit, and employs an early abort of conflicting transactions. A proof of correctness of the implementation is given for a contextual semantics with may- and should-convergence. This implies that our implementation is a correct evaluator for an abstract specification equipped with a big-step semantics
On the Equivalence between Small-Step and Big-Step Abstract Machines: A Simple Application of Lightweight Fusion
We show how Ohori and Sasano's recent lightweight fusion by fixed-point promotion provides a simple way to prove the equivalence of the two standard styles of specification of abstract machines: (1) in small-step form, as a state-transition function together with a `driver loop,' i.e., a function implementing the iteration of this transition function; and (2) in big-step form, as a tail-recursive function that directly maps a given configuration to a final state, if any. The equivalence hinges on our observation that for abstract machines, fusing a small-step specification yields a big-step specification. We illustrate this observation here with a recognizer for Dyck words, the CEK machine, and Krivine's machine with call/cc. The need for such a simple proof is motivated by our current work on small-step abstract machines as obtained by refocusing a function implementing a reduction semantics (a syntactic correspondence), and big-step abstract machines as obtained by CPS-transforming and then defunctionalizing a function implementing a big-step semantics (a functional correspondence)
First Class Call Stacks: Exploring Head Reduction
Weak-head normalization is inconsistent with functional extensionality in the
call-by-name -calculus. We explore this problem from a new angle via
the conflict between extensionality and effects. Leveraging ideas from work on
the -calculus with control, we derive and justify alternative
operational semantics and a sequence of abstract machines for performing head
reduction. Head reduction avoids the problems with weak-head reduction and
extensionality, while our operational semantics and associated abstract
machines show us how to retain weak-head reduction's ease of implementation.Comment: In Proceedings WoC 2015, arXiv:1606.0583
Probabilistic Operational Semantics for the Lambda Calculus
Probabilistic operational semantics for a nondeterministic extension of pure
lambda calculus is studied. In this semantics, a term evaluates to a (finite or
infinite) distribution of values. Small-step and big-step semantics are both
inductively and coinductively defined. Moreover, small-step and big-step
semantics are shown to produce identical outcomes, both in call-by- value and
in call-by-name. Plotkin's CPS translation is extended to accommodate the
choice operator and shown correct with respect to the operational semantics.
Finally, the expressive power of the obtained system is studied: the calculus
is shown to be sound and complete with respect to computable probability
distributions.Comment: 35 page
Functional Big-step Semantics
When doing an interactive proof about a piece of software, it is important that the underlying programming language’s semantics does not make the proof unnecessarily difficult or unwieldy. Both smallstep and big-step semantics are commonly used, and the latter is typically given by an inductively defined relation. In this paper, we consider an alternative: using a recursive function akin to an interpreter for the language. The advantages include a better induction theorem, less duplication, accessibility to ordinary functional programmers, and the ease of doing symbolic simulation in proofs via rewriting. We believe that this style of semantics is well suited for compiler verification, including proofs of divergence preservation. We do not claim the invention of this style of semantics: our contribution here is to clarify its value, and to explain how it supports several language features that might appear to require a relational or small-step approach. We illustrate the technique on a simple imperative language with C-like for-loops and a break statement, and compare it to a variety of other approaches. We also provide ML and lambda-calculus based examples to illustrate its generality
Separation Logic for Small-step Cminor
Cminor is a mid-level imperative programming language; there are
proved-correct optimizing compilers from C to Cminor and from Cminor to machine
language. We have redesigned Cminor so that it is suitable for Hoare Logic
reasoning and we have designed a Separation Logic for Cminor. In this paper, we
give a small-step semantics (instead of the big-step of the proved-correct
compiler) that is motivated by the need to support future concurrent
extensions. We detail a machine-checked proof of soundness of our Separation
Logic. This is the first large-scale machine-checked proof of a Separation
Logic w.r.t. a small-step semantics. The work presented in this paper has been
carried out in the Coq proof assistant. It is a first step towards an
environment in which concurrent Cminor programs can be verified using
Separation Logic and also compiled by a proved-correct compiler with formal
end-to-end correctness guarantees.Comment: Version courte du rapport de recherche RR-613
Resumptions, Weak Bisimilarity and Big-Step Semantics for While with Interactive I/O: An Exercise in Mixed Induction-Coinduction
We look at the operational semantics of languages with interactive I/O
through the glasses of constructive type theory. Following on from our earlier
work on coinductive trace-based semantics for While, we define several big-step
semantics for While with interactive I/O, based on resumptions and
termination-sensitive weak bisimilarity. These require nesting inductive
definitions in coinductive definitions, which is interesting both
mathematically and from the point-of-view of implementation in a proof
assistant.
After first defining a basic semantics of statements in terms of resumptions
with explicit internal actions (delays), we introduce a semantics in terms of
delay-free resumptions that essentially removes finite sequences of delays on
the fly from those resumptions that are responsive. Finally, we also look at a
semantics in terms of delay-free resumptions supplemented with a silent
divergence option. This semantics hinges on decisions between convergence and
divergence and is only equivalent to the basic one classically.
We have fully formalized our development in Coq.Comment: In Proceedings SOS 2010, arXiv:1008.190
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