This paper exploits the point of view of constraint programming as computation in a logical system, namely constraint logic. We define the basic ingredients of constraint logic, such as constraint models and generalised polynomials. We show that constraint logic is an institution, and we internalise the study of constraint logic to the framework of category-based equational logic. By showing that constraint logic is a special case of category-based equational logic, we integrate the constraint logic programming paradigm into equational logic programming. Results include a Herbrand theorem for constraint logic programming characterising Herbrand models as initial models in constraint logic.

We describe the automatic generation of a provably correct compiler for a non-trivial subset of Ada. The compiler is generated from an action semantic description; it emits absolute code for an abstract RISC machine language that currently is assembled into code for the SPARC and the HP Precision Architecture. The generated code is an order of magnitude better than what is produced by compilers generated by the classical systems of Mosses, Paulson, and Wand. The use of action semantics makes the processable language specification easy to read and pleasant to work with. In Proc. ICCL'92, Fourth IEEE International Conference on Computer Languages, pages 117--126. 1 Introduction The purpose of a language designer's workbench, envisioned by Pleban, is to drastically improve the language design process. The major components in such a workbench are: ffl A specification language whose specifications are easily maintainable, and accessible without knowledge of the underlying theory; and f...

Equational presentations with ordered sorts encompass partially defined functions and subtyping information in an algebraic framework. In this work we address the problem of computing in order-sorted algebras, with very few restrictions on the allowed presentations. We adopt an algebraic framework where equational, membership and existence formulas can be expressed. A complete deduction calculus is provided to incorporate the interaction between all these formulas. The notion of decorated terms is proposed to memorize local sort information, dynamically changed by a rewriting process. A completion procedure for equational presentations with ordered sorts computes a set of rewrite rules with which not only equational theorems of the form (t = t 0 ), but also typing theorems of the for...

A precise and perspicuous specification of mathematical domains of computation and their inherently related type inference mechanisms is a prerequisite for the design and systematic development of a system for symbolic computing. This paper describes Formal, a language for giving modular and well-structured specifications of such domains and particularly of "mathematical objects". A novel framework for algebraic specification involving so-called "unified algebras" has been adopted, where sorts are treated as values. The adoption of this framework aims also at being capable of specifying polymorphism, unifying the notions of "parametric" and "inclusion" polymorphisms. Furthermore, the operational nature of the specification formalisms allows a straightforward transformation into an executable form.

This paper is about the recently-developed framework of action semantics.

covering the ASD abstract syntax notation; and (2) an ASF-SDF module called CONCRETE containing the concrete notation, as well as a function (signature and defining equations) mapping the CON- CRETE representation to the ABSTRACT one.

A specification formalism with parameterisation of an arbitrary order is presented. It is given a denotational-style semantics, accompanied by an inference system for proving that an object satisfies a specification. The inference system incorporates, but is not limited to, a clearly identified type-checking component. Special effort is made to carefully distinguish between parameterised specifications, which denote functions yielding classes of objects, and specifications of parameterised objects, which denote classes of functions yielding objects. To deal with both of these in a uniform framework, it was convenient to view specifications, which specify objects, as objects themselves, and to introduce a notion of a specification of specifications. The formalism includes the basic specification-building operations of the ASL specification language. This choice, however, is orthogonal to the new ideas presented. The formalism is also institution-independent, although this iss...

Computational Structures J. CALMET, K. HOMANN and I.A. TJANDRA Universitat Karlsruhe Institut fur Algorithmen und Kognitive Systeme Am Fasanengarten 5; Postfach 69 80; D-76128 Karlsruhe; Germany Abstract. This paper introduces a formalism to specify abstract computational structures (ACS) of mathematical domains of computation.

syntax The algebraic definition of abstract syntax trees below can, more or less, be read as a BNF grammar. Emphatic brackets, [[: : : ]], indicate nodes in an abstract syntax tree. grammar: ffl Expression = Identifier "true" "false" [[ "" Identifier "." Expression ]] [[ Expression Expression ]] [[ "rec" Identifier "." Expression ]] [[ "if" Expression "then" Expression "else" Expression ]] . Action semantics reasoning about functional programs 3 ffl Identifier = [[ letter + ]] . 2.2. Semantic functions Action semantic descriptions are syntax-directed in the denotational style: compositional semantic functions map abstract syntax into meaning and are defined inductively by semantic equations. There is one universal semantic domain, namely action, the sort of actions. Actions are expressed in a notation that looks a little like informal English prose but, in fact, it is a completely formal combinator-based notation. The verbose notation should be suggestive of the meaning of th...

For the specification of abstract data types, quite a number of logical systems have been developed. In this work, we will try to give an overview over this variety. As a prerequisite, we first study notions of {\em representation} and embedding between logical systems, which are formalized as {\em institutions} here. Different kinds of representations will lead to a looser or tighter connection of the institutions, with more or less good possibilities of faithfully embedding the semantics and of re-using proof support. In the second part, we then perform a detailed ``empirical'' study of the relations among various well-known institutions of total, order-sorted and partial algebras and first-order structures (all with Horn style, i.e.\ universally quantified conditional, axioms). We thus obtain a {\em graph} of institutions, with different kinds of edges according to the different kinds of representations between institutions studied in the first part. We also prove some separation results, leading to a {\em hierarchy} of institutions, which in turn naturally leads to five subgraphs of the above graph of institutions. They correspond to five different levels of expressiveness in the hierarchy, which can be characterized by different kinds of conditional generation principles. We introduce a systematic notation for institutions of total, order-sorted and partial algebras and first-order structures. The notation closely follows the combination of features that are present in the respective institution. This raises the question whether these combinations of features can be made mathematically precise in some way. In the third part, we therefore study the combination of institutions with the help of so-called parchments (which are certain algebraic presentations of institutions) and parchment morphisms. The present book is a revised version of the author's thesis, where a number of mathematical problems (pointed out by Andrzej Tarlecki) and a number of misuses of the English language (pointed out by Bernd Krieg-Br\"uckner) have been corrected. Also, the syntax of specifications has been adopted to that of the recently developed Common Algebraic Specification Language {\sc Casl} \cite{CASL/Summary,Mosses97TAPSOFT}.