We propose a type system MLF that generalizes ML with first-class polymorphism as in System F. We perform partial type reconstruction. As in ML and in opposition to System F, each typable expression admits a principal type, which can be inferred. Furthermore, all expressions of ML are well-typed, with a possibly more general type than in ML, without any need for type annotation. Only arguments of functions that are used polymorphically must be annotated, which allows to type all expressions of System F as well.

We consider the problems of typability and type checking in the Girard/Reynolds second-order polymorphic typed-calculus, for which we use the short name "System F" and which we use in the "Curry style" where types are assigned to pure-terms. These problems have been considered and proven to be decidable or undecidable for various restrictions and extensions of System F and other related systems, and lower-bound complexity results for System F have been achieved, but they have remained "embarrassing open problems" 3 for System F itself. We first prove that type checking in System F is undecidable by a reduction from semi-unification. We then prove typability in System F is undecidable by a reduction from type checking. Since the reverse reduction is already known, this implies the two problems are equivalent. The second reduction uses a novel method of constructing-terms such that in all type derivations, specific bound variables must always be assigned a specific type. Using this technique, we can require that specif subterms must be typable using a specific, fixed type assignment in order for the entire term to be typable at all. Any desired type assignment maybe simulated. We develop this method, which we call \constants for free", for both the K and I calculi.

We describe a complete formalization of a strong normalization proof for the Curry style presentation of System F in LEGO. The underlying type theory is the Calculus of Constructions enriched by inductive types. The proof follows Girard et al [GLT89], i.e. we use the notion of candidates of reducibility, but we make essential use of general inductive types to simplify the presentation. We discuss extensions and variations of the proof: the extraction of a normalization function, the use of saturated sets instead of candidates, and the extension to a Church Style presentation. We conclude with some general observations about Computer Aided Formal Reasoning.

In the proofs as programs methodology a program is derived from a formal constructive proof. Because of the close relationship between proof and program structure, transformations can be applied to proofs rather than to programs in order to improve performance. We describe a method for implementing transformations of formal proofs and show that it is applicable to the optimization of extracted programs. The method is based on the representation of derived logical rules in Elf, a logic programming language that gives an operational interpretation to the Edinburgh Logical Framework. It results in declarative implementations with a general correctness property that is verified automatically by the Elf type checking algorithm. We illustrate the technique by applying it to the problem of transforming a recursive function definition to obtain a tail-recursive form.

This paper demonstrates a method of extracting programs from formal deductions represented in the Edinburgh Logical Framework, using the Elf programming language. Deductive systems are given for the extraction of simple types from formulas of first-order arithmetic and of -calculus terms from natural deduction proofs. These systems are easily encoded in Elf, yielding an implementation of extraction that corresponds to modified realizability. Because extraction is itself implemented as a set of formal deductive systems, some of its correctness properties can be partially represented and mechanically checked in the Elf language.

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Types 83 9.1 Syntax : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 83 9.2 Typing Rules : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 83 9.3 Operational Semantics : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 84 iv 9.4 Impredicative Existentials : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 84 9.5 Representation Independence : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 85 9.6 Projection Notation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 85 9.7 References : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 87 10 Modularity 88 10.1 Introduction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 88 10.2 A Critique of Some Modularity Mechanisms : : : : : : : : : : : : 88 10.3 Basic Modules : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 93 10.4 Module Hierarchies : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 97 10.5 Parameterized Modules : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 98 10.6 References : : : : : : : : : : : ...

Interpretation is an implicit part of today’s programming; it has great power but is overused and has significant costs. For example, interpreters are typically significantly hard to understand and hard to reason about. The methodology of “Totally Functional Programming” (TFP) is a reasoned attempt to redress the problem of interpretation. It incorporates an awareness of the undesirability of interpretation with observations that definitions and a certain style of programming appear to offer alternatives to it. Application of TFP is expected to lead to a number of significant outcomes, theoretical as well as practical. Primary among these are novel programming languages to lessen or eliminate the use of interpretation in programming, leading to better-quality software. However, TFP contains a number of lacunae in its current formulation, which hinder development of these outcomes. Among others, formal semantics and type-systems for TFP languages are yet to be discovered, the means to reduce interpretation in programs is to be determined, and a detailed explication is needed of interpretation, definition, and the differences between the two. Most important of all however is the need to develop a complete understanding of the nature of interpretation. In this work, suitable type-systems for TFP languages are identified, and guidance given regarding the construction of appropriate formal semantics. Techniques, based around the ‘fold’ operator, are identified and developed for modifying programs so as to reduce the amount of interpretation they contain. Interpretation as a means of language-extension is also investigated. v Finally, the nature of interpretation is considered. Numerous hypotheses relating to it considered in detail. Combining the results of those analyses with discoveries from elsewhere in this work leads to the proposal that interpretation is not, in fact, symbol-based computation, but is in fact something more fundamental: computation that varies with input. We discuss in detail various implications of this characterisation, including its practical application. An often more-useful property, ‘inherent interpretiveness’, is also motivated and discussed in depth. Overall, our inquiries act to give conceptual and theoretical foundations for practical TFP.

Abstract. We study type checking, typability, and type inference problems for type-free style and Curry style second-order existential systems where the type-free style differs from the Curry style in that the terms of the former contain information on where the existential quantifier elimination and introduction take place but omit the information on which types are involved. We show that all the problems are undecidable employing reduction of second-order unification in case of the typefree system and semiunification in case of the Curry style system. This provides a fine border between problems yielding to a reduction of second-order unification problem and the semiunification problem. In addition, we investigate the subject reduction property of the system in the Curry-style. 5 10

A certifying compiler preserves type information through compilation to assembly language programs, producing typed assembly language (TAL) programs that can be verified for safety independently so that the compiler does not need to be trusted. There are two challenges for adopting certifying compilation in practice. First, requiring every compiler transformation and optimization to preserve types is a large burden on compilers, especially when adopting certifying compilation into existing optimizing non-certifying compilers. Second, type annotations significantly increase the size of assembly language programs. This paper proposes an alternative to traditional certifying compilers. It presents iTalX, the first inferable TAL type system that supports existential types, arrays, interfaces, and stacks. We have proved our inference algorithm is complete, meaning if an assembly