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In this paper we introduce a variable typed logic of effects inspired by the variable type systems of Feferman for purely functional languages. VTLoE (Variable Typed Logic of Effects) is introduced in two stages. The first stage is the first-order theory of individuals built on assertions of equality (operational equivalence `a la Plotkin), and contextual assertions. The second stage extends the logic to include classes and class membership. The logic we present provides an expressive language for defining and studying properties of programs including program equivalences, in a uniform framework. The logic combines the features and benefits of equational calculi as well as program and specification logics. In addition to the usual first-order formula constructions, we add contextual assertions. Contextual assertions generalize Hoare's triples in that they can be nested, used as assumptions, and their free variables may be quantified. They are similar in spirit to program modalities in ...

This paper describes the construction of categorical models for the nu-calculus, a language that combines higher-order functions with dynamically created names. Names are created with local scope, they can be compared with each other and passed around through function application, but that is all. The intent behind this language is to examine one aspect of the imperative character of Standard ML: the use of local state by dynamic creation of references. The nu-calculus is equivalent to a certain fragment of ML, omitting side effects, exceptions, datatypes and recursion. Even without all these features, the interaction of name creation with higher-order functions can be complex and subtle; it is particularly difficult to characterise the observable behaviour of expressions. Categorical monads, in the style of Moggi, are used to build denotational models for the nu-calculus. An intermediate stage is the use of a computational metalanguage, which distinguishes in the type system between values and computations. The general requirements for a categorical model are presented, and two specific examples described in detail. These provide a sound denotational semantics for the nu-calculus, and can be used to reason about observable equivalence in the language. In particular a model using logical relations is fully abstract for first-order expressions.

this paper we regard the following as synonyms: references, program variables, pointers, locations, and unary cells) to a programming language complicates life. Adding them to the simply typed lambda calculus causes the failure of most of the nice mathematical properties and some of the more basic rules (such as j). For example strong normalization fails since it is possible, for each provably non--empty function type, to construct a Y --combinator for that type. References also interact unpleasantly with polymorphism [34, 35]. They are also troublesome from a denotational point of view as illustrated by the lack of fully abstract models. For example, in [22] Meyer and Sieber give a series of examples of programs that are operationally equivalent (according to the intended semantics of block-structured Algol-like programs) but which are not given equivalent denotations in traditional denotational semantics. They propose various modifications to the denotational semantics which solve some of these discrepancies, but not all. In [27, 26] a denotational semantics that overcomes some of these problems is presented. However variations on the seventh example remain problematic. Since numerous proof systems for Algol are sound for the denotational models in question, [8, 7, 32, 28, 16, 27, 26], these equivalences, if expressible, must be independent of these systems. The problem which motivated Meyer and Sieber's paper, [22], was to provide mathematical justification for the informal but convincing proofs of the operational equivalence of their examples. In this paper we approach the same problem, but from an operational rather than denotational perspective. This paper accomplishes two goals. Firstly, we present the first-order part of a new logic for reasoning about programs....

ing and using (L-unif) we have that any two lambdas that are everywhere undefined are equivalent. The classic example of an everywhere undefined lambda is Bot 4 = x:app(x:app(x; x); x:app(x; x)) In f , another example of an everywhere undefined lambda is the "do-forever" loop. Do 4 = f:Yv(Dox:Do(f(x)) By the recursive definition, for any lambda ' and value v Do(')(v) \Gamma!Ø Do(')('(v)) Reasoning about Functions with Effects 21 In f , either '(v) \Gamma!Ø v 0 for some v 0 or '(v) is undefined. In the latter case the computation is undefined since the redex is undefined. In the former case, the computation reduces to Do(')(v 0 ) and on we go. The argument for undefinedness of Bot relies only on the (app) rule and will be valid in any uniform semantics. In contrast the argument for undefinedness of Do(') relies on the (fred.isdef) property of f . Functional Streams We now illustrate the use of (L-unif-sim) computation to reason about streams represented as functions ...

Compilers for higher-order programming languages like Scheme, ML, and Lisp can be broadly characterized as either "direct compilers" or "continuation-passing style (CPS) compilers", depending on their main intermediate representation. Our central result is a precise correspondence between the two compilation strategies. Starting from

The semantics of imperative languages are often expressed in terms of a store-passing translation and an algebra for reasoning about stores. We axiomatize the semantics of several typical imperative languages via equational axioms by "inverting" the storepassing translation as well as the algebraic axioms for reasoning about the store. The inversion process is simple and systematic and results in theories that are similar to equational theories for imperative languages that have been derived in more complicated ways, and is likely to be applicable to languages other than those presented here.

Abstract. We introduce an extension of Hoare logic for call-by-value higherorder functions with ML-like local reference generation. Local references may be generated dynamically and exported outside their scope, may store higherorder functions and may be used to construct complex mutable data structures. This primitive is captured logically using a predicate asserting reachability of a reference name from a possibly higher-order datum and quantifiers over hidden references. The logic enjoys three completeness properties: relative completeness, a logical characterisation of the contextual congruence and derivability of characteristic formulae. We explore the logic’s descriptive and reasoning power with non-trivial programming examples combining higher-order procedures and dynamically generated local state. Axioms for reachability and local invariant play a central role for reasoning about the examples. 1

this paper we introduce a variable typed logic of effects (i.e. a logic of effects where classes can be defined and quantified over) inspired by the variable type systems of Feferman [3, 4] for purely functional languages. A similar extension incorporating non-local control operations was introduced in [27]. The logic we present provides an expressive language for defining specifications and constraints and for studying properties and program equivalences, in a uniform framework. Thus it has an advantage over a plethora of systems in the literature that aim to capture solitary aspects of computation. The theory also allows for the construction of inductively defined sets and derivation of the corresponding induction principles. Classes can be used to express, inter alia, the non-expansiveness of terms [29]. Other effects can also be represented within the system. These include read/write effects and various forms of interference [24]. The first order fragment is described in [16] where it is used to resolve the denotationally problematic examples of [17]. In our language atoms, references and lambda abstractions are all first class values and as such are storable. This has several consequences. Firstly, mutation and variable binding are separate and so we avoid the problems that typically arise (e.g. in Hoare's and dynamic logic) from the conflation of program variables and logical variables. Secondly, the equality and sharing of references (aliasing) is easily expressed and reasoned about. Thirdly, the combination of mutable references and lambda abstractions allows us to study object based programming within our framework. Our atomic formulas express the (operational or observational) equivalence of programs `a la Plotkin [23]. Neither Hoare's logic nor Dynamic logi...

The nu-calculus of Pitts and Stark is a typed lambda-calculus, extended with state in the form of dynamically-generated names. These names can be created locally, passed around, and compared with one another. Through the interaction between names and functions, the language can capture notions of scope, visibility and sharing. Originally motivated by the study of references in Standard ML, the nu-calculus has connections to other kinds of local declaration, and to the mobile processes of the -calculus.