Static Analysis of CLP Programs over Numeric Domains

Constraint logic programming (CLP) is a generalization of the pure logic programming paradigm, having similar model-theoretic, fixpoint and operational semantics [9]. Since the basic operational step in program execution is a test for solvability of constraints in a given algebraic structure, CLP has in addition an algebraic semantics. CLP is then a general paradigm which may be instantiated on various semantic domains, thus achieving a good expressive power. One relevant feature is the distinction between testing for solvability and computing a solution of a given constraint formula. In the logic programming case, this corresponds to the unification process, which tests for solvability by computing a solution (a set of equations in solved form or most general unifier ). In CLP, the computation of a solution of a constraint is left to a constraint solver, which does not a#ect the semantic definition of the language. This allows di#erent computational domains, e.g. real arithmetic, to b..