The i.-calculus is considered a useful mathematical tool in the study of programming languages, since programs can be identified with I-terms. However, if one goes further and uses bn-conversion to prove equivalence of programs, then a gross simplification is introduced (programs are identified with total functions from calues to values) that may jeopardise the applicability of theoretical results, In this paper we introduce calculi. based on a categorical semantics for computations, that provide a correct basis for proving equivalence of programs for a wide range of notions of computation.

The -calculus is considered an useful mathematical tool in the study of programming languages, since programs can be identified with -terms. However, if one goes further and uses fij-conversion to prove equivalence of programs, then a gross simplification 1 is introduced, that may jeopardise the applicability of theoretical results to real situations. In this paper we introduce a new calculus based on a categorical semantics for computations. This calculus provides a correct basis for proving equivalence of programs, independent from any specific computational model. 1 Introduction This paper is about logics for reasoning about programs, in particular for proving equivalence of programs. Following a consolidated tradition in theoretical computer science we identify programs with the closed -terms, possibly containing extra constants, corresponding to some features of the programming language under consideration. There are three approaches to proving equivalence of programs: ffl T...

We now define the notion, already discussed, of an effectively calculable function of positive integers by identifying it with the notion of a recursive function of positive integers (or of a lambdadefinable function of positive integers). The phrase in parentheses refers to the apparatus which Church had developed to investigate this and other problems in the foundations of mathematics: the calculus of lambda conversion. Both the Thesis and the lambda calculus have been of seminal influence on the development of Computing Science. The main subject of this article is the lambda calculus but I will begin with a brief sketch of the emergence of the Thesis. The epistemological status of Church’s Thesis is not immediately clear from the above quotation and remains a matter of debate, as is explored in other papers of this volume. My own view, which I will state but not elaborate here, is that the thesis is empirical because it relies for its significance on a claim about what can be calculated by mechanisms. This becomes clearer in

The significance of type theory to the theory of programming languages has long been recognized. Advances in programming languages have often derived from understanding that stems from type theory. However, these applications of type theory to practical programming languages have been indirect; the differences between practical languages and type theory have prevented direct connections between the two. This dissertation presents systematic techniques directly relating practical programming languages to type theory. These techniques allow programming languages to be interpreted in the rich mathematical domain of type theory. Such interpretations lead to semantics that are at once denotational and operational, combining the advantages of each, and they also lay the foundation for formal verification of computer programs in type theory. Previous type theories either have not provided adequate expressiveness to interpret practical languages, or have provided such expressiveness at the expense of essential features of the type theory. In particular, no previous type theory has supported a notion of partial functions (needed to interpret recursion in practical languages), and a notion of total functions and objects (needed to reason about data values), and an intrinsic notion of equality (needed for most interesting results). This dissertation presents the first type theory incorporating all three, and discusses issues arising in the design of that type theory. This type theory is used as the target of a type­theoretic semantics for a expressive programming calculus. This calculus may serve as an internal language for a variety of functional programming languages. The semantics is stated as a syntax­directed embedding of the programming calculus into type theory. A critical point arising in both the type theory and the type­theoretic semantics is the issue of admissibility. Admissibility governs what types it is legal to form recursive functions over. To build a useful type theory for partial functions it is necessary to have a wide class of admissible types. In particular, it is necessary for all the types arising in the type­theoretic semantics to be admissible. In this dissertation I present a class of admissible types that is considerably wider than any previously known class.

This paper gives an introduction to type theory, focusing on its recent use as a logical framework for proofs and programs. The first two sections give a background to type theory intended for the reader who is new to the subject. The following presents Martin-Lof's monomorphic type theory and an implementation, ALF, of this theory. Finally, a few small tutorial examples in ALF are given.

One of the distinguishing features of logic programming seems to be the notion of goal-directed provability, i.e. that the structure of the goal is used to determine the next step in the proof search process. It is known that by restricting the class of formulae it is possible to guarantee that a certain class of proofs, known as uniform proofs, are complete with respect to provability in intuitionistic logic. In this paper we explore the relationship between uniform proofs and classes of formulae more deeply. Firstly we show that uniform proofs arise naturally as a normal form for proofs in first-order intuitionistic sequent calculus. Next we show that the class of formulae known as hereditary Harrop formulae are intimately related to uniform proofs, and that we may extract such formulae from uniform proofs in two different ways. We also give results which may be interpreted as showing that hereditary Harrop formulae are the largest class of formulae for which uniform proo...

An adequate theory of partial computable functions should provide a basis for defining computational complexity measures and should justify the principle of computational induction for reasoning about programs on the basis of their recursive calls. There is no practical account of these notions in type theory, and consequently such concepts are not available in applications of type theory where they are greatly needed. It is also not clear how to provide a practical and adequate account in programming logics based on set theory. This paper provides a practical theory supporting all these concepts in the setting of constructive type theories. We first introduce an extensional theory of partial computable functions in type theory. We then add support for intensional reasoning about programs by explicitly reflecting the essential properties of the underlying computation system. We use the resulting intensional reasoning tools to justify computational induction and to define computationa...

Constructive type theory as conceived by Per Martin-Löf has a very rich type system, but partial functions cannot be typed. This also makes it impossible to directly write recursive programs. In this paper a constructive type theory Red is defined which includes a partial type constructor A; objects in the type A may diverge, but if they converge, they must be members of A. A fixed point typing principle is given to allow typing of recursive functions. The extraction paradigm of type theory, whereby programs are automatically extracted from constructive proofs, is extended to allow extraction of fixed points. There is a Scott fixed point induction principle for reasoning about these functions. Soundness of the theory is proven. Type theory becomes a more expressive programming logic as a result.

Partial types allow the reasoning about partial functions in type theory. The partial functions of main interest are recursively computed functions, which are commonly assigned types using fixpoint induction. However, fixpoint induction is valid only on admissible types. Previous work has shown many types to be admissible, but has not shown any dependent products to be admissible. Disallowing recursion on dependent product types substantially reduces the expressiveness of the logic; for example, it prevents much reasoning about modules, objects and algebras. In this paper I present two new tools, predicate-admissibility and monotonicity, for showing types to be admissible. These tools show a wide class of types to be admissible; in particular, they show many dependent products to be admissible. This alleviates difficulties in applying partial types to theorem proving in practice. I also present a general least upper bound theorem for fixed points with regard to a computational approxim...

There are compelling benefits to using foundational type theory as a framework for programming language semantics. I give a semantics of an expressive programming calculus in the foundational type theory of Nuprl. Previous typetheoretic semantics have used less expressive type theories, or have sacrificed important programming constructs such as recursion and modules. The primary mechanisms of this semantics are partial types, for typing recursion, set types, for encoding power and singleton kinds, which are used for subtyping and module programming, and very dependent function types, for encoding signatures. Keywords Semantics, program verification, type theory, functional programming 1 INTRODUCTION Type theory has become a popular framework for formal reasoning in computer science and has formed the basis for a number of automated deduction systems, including Automath, Nuprl, HOL and Coq, among others. In addition to formalizing mathematics, these systems are widely used for the a...