From operational semantics to abstract machines

Hannan, John; Miller, Dale

doi:10.1017/s0960129500001559

Cited by 69 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Notable instances are the categorical abstract machine [11] and the abstract machines that can be derived systematically from an operational semantics of lambda notation, using Hannan's method [26,24,25]. It remains to be demonstrated, however, if a compiler which incorporates one of them will be more efficient than the classical systems.…”

Section: Classical Compiler Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provably Correct Compiler Generation

Palsberg¹

1992

DPB

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We have designed, implemented, and proved the correctness of a compiler generator that accepts action semantic descriptions of imperative programming languages. We have used it to generate compilers for both a toy language and a non-trivial subset of Ada. The generated compilers emit absolute code for an abstract RISC machine language that is assembled into code for the SPARC and the HP Precision Architecture. The generated code is an order of magnitude better than that produced by compilers generated by the classical systems of Mosses, Paulson, and Wand. Our machine language needs no runtime type-checking and is thus more realistic than those considered in previous compiler proofs. We use solely algebraic specifications; proofs are given in the initial model. The use of action semantics makes the processable language specifications easy to read and pleasant to work with. We view our compiler generator as a promising first step towards user-friendly and automatic generation of realistic and provably correct compilers. AckowledgementsThe author thanks Peter Mosses for advice and support. The author also thanks Peter Ørbaek for implementing the Cantor system.Overviews Det er et langsigtet mål, for de der arbejder med oversaetter generering og korrekthed, at konstruere en sprog-designer's arbejdsbaenk, med henblik på støtte af sprog-design processen. Hovedkomponterne i sådan en arbejdsbaenk er:• Et specifikations-sprog hvis specifikationer er lette at vedligeholde, og tilgaengelige uden kendskab til den underliggende teori; og• En oversaetter generator som genererer realistiske og bevisligt korrekte oversaettere ud fra sådanne specifikationer.ii Med sådan en arbejdsbaenk kan sprog-designeren:• Dokumentere design beslutninger;• Eksperimentere med det nye sprog efter en aendring; og• Aflevere en oversaetter til programmørerne umiddelbart efter designet er faerdigt.Hidtidigt arbejde har ikke formået at bevise korrektheden af nogen realistisk oversaetter generator. Derimod er det lykkedes i flere projekter at generere oversaettere, der tåler sammenligning med kommercielt tilgaengelige oversaetere. Disse projekters' erfaring eq at det bliver lettere at generere gode oversaetere, hvis:• En sprog definition ikke indeholder en fuldstaendig implementations model; og• Specifikations-sproget er rettet mod sprog, som traditionelt implementeres via en oversaetter.Vi har designet, implementeret og bevist korrektheden af en oversaetter generator, som potentielt kunne blive en komponent i en sprog-designer's arbejdsbaenk. Sum specifikations-sprog benytter vi Mosses' aktions-notation, som blev designet netop med henblik på at undgå at et sprog-design fastlaegger en implementations model. Den centrale komponent i oversaetter generatoren er en oversaetter fra aktions-notation til absolut kode for en abstrakt RISC maskine. Når oversaetter-generatoren gives en sprog-definition i aktions-notation, så bliver den sammensat med aktions-oversaetteren, hvilket tilsammen giver en korrekt oversaetter for det definerede sprog, idet vi h...

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Section: Classical Compiler Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provably Correct Compiler Generation

Palsberg¹

1992

DPB

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“…On the one hand, few abstract machines are actually derived with meaningpreserving steps, and on the other hand, few abstract machines are invented from scratch. Instead, most abstract machines are inspired by one formal system or another and they are subsequently proved to correctly implement a given evaluation strategy [8,9,20,21,26].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Functional Correspondence between Call-by-Need Evaluators and Lazy Abstract Machines

Ager¹,

Danvy²,

Midtgaard³

2004

BRICS

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We bridge the gap between compositional evaluators and abstract machines for the lambda-calculus, using closure conversion, transformation into continuation-passing style, and defunctionalization of continuations. This article is a followup of our article at PPDP 2003, where we consider call by name and call by value. Here, however, we consider call by need.We derive a lazy abstract machine from an ordinary call-by-need evaluator that threads a heap of updatable cells. In this resulting abstract machine, the continuation fragment for updating a heap cell naturally appears as an 'update marker', an implementation technique that was invented for the Three Instruction Machine and subsequently used to construct lazy variants of Krivine's abstract machine. Tuning the evaluator leads to other implementation techniques such as unboxed values. The correctness of the resulting abstract machines is a corollary of the correctness of the original evaluators and of the program transformations used in the derivation.

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“…This approach started in [4] 1 . Other papers, for example [9], have explored aspects of higher-order encoding of abstract machines and compilation and [10] contains the first attempt to carry formal verification of compiler correctness in LF. Only recently the notion of regular world introduced in [21] provides a satisfying foundation for the theory of mode, termination and coverage checking [19], which has been developed to justify using LF for meta-reasoning.…”

Section: The Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-level Meta-reasoning with Higher-Order Abstract Syntax

Momigliano

Ambler

2003

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Abstract. Combining Higher Order Abstract Syntax (HOAS) and (co)-induction is well known to be problematic. In previous work [1] we have described the implementation of a tool called Hybrid, within Isabelle HOL, which allows object logics to be represented using HOAS, and reasoned about using tactical theorem proving and principles of (co)induction. Moreover, it is definitional, which guarantees consistency within a classical type theory. In this paper we describe how to use it in a multi-level reasoning fashion, similar in spirit to other meta-logics such F Oλ ∆I N and Twelf. By explicitly referencing provability, we solve the problem of reasoning by (co)induction in presence of non-stratifiable hypothetical judgments, which allow very elegant and succinct specifications. We demonstrate the method by formally verifying the correctness of a compiler for (a fragment) of Mini-ML, following [10]. To further exhibit the flexibility of our system, we modify the target language with a notion of non-well-founded closure, inspired by Milner & Tofte [16] and formally verify via co-induction a subject reduction theorem for this modified language.

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From operational semantics to abstract machines

Cited by 69 publications

References 14 publications

Provably Correct Compiler Generation

Provably Correct Compiler Generation

A Functional Correspondence between Call-by-Need Evaluators and Lazy Abstract Machines

Multi-level Meta-reasoning with Higher-Order Abstract Syntax

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