We use Iris, an implementation of concurrent separation logic in the Coq proof assistant, to verify two queue data structures used for inter-process communication in an operating system under development. Our motivations are twofold. First, we wish to leverage formal verification to boost confidence in a delicate piece of industrial code that was subject to numerous revisions. Second, we aim to gain information on the cost-benefit tradeoff of applying a state-of-the-art formal verification tool in our industrial setting. On both fronts, our endeavor has been a success. The verification effort proved that the queue algorithms are correct and uncovered four algorithmic simplifications as well as bugs in client code. The simplifications involve the removal of two memory barriers, one atomic load, and one boolean check, all in a performance-sensitive part of the OS. Removing the redundant boolean check revealed unintended uses of uninitialized memory in multiple device drivers, which were fixed. The proof work was completed in person months, not years, by engineers with no prior familiarity with Iris. These findings are spurring further use of verification at Meta.
Program logics for bug-finding (such as the recently introduced Incorrectness Logic) have framed correctness and incorrectness as dual concepts requiring different logical foundations. In this paper, we argue that a single unified theory can be used for both correctness and incorrectness reasoning. We present Outcome Logic (OL), a novel generalization of Hoare Logic that is both monadic (to capture computational effects) and monoidal (to reason about outcomes and reachability). OL expresses true positive bugs, while retaining correctness reasoning abilities as well. To formalize the applicability of OL to both correctness and incorrectness, we prove that any false OL specification can be disproven in OL itself. We also use our framework to reason about new types of incorrectness in nondeterministic and probabilistic programs. Given these advances, we advocate for OL as a new foundational theory of correctness and incorrectness.
Using dependent types in production code is a practical way to eliminate errors. While there are many examples of using dependent Haskell to prove invariants about code, few of these are applied to large scale production systems. Critics claim that dependent types are only useful in toy examples and that they are impractical for use in the real world. This experience report analyzes real world examples where dependent types have enabled us to find and eliminate bugs in production Haskell code. CCS Concepts: • Software and its engineering → Software development techniques; Functional languages.
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