Abstract

This tutorial paper discusses a particular style of operational semantics that enables one to give a `syntax-directed' inductive definition of termination which is very useful for reasoning about operational equivalence of programs. We restrict attention to contextual equivalence of expressions in the ML family of programming languages, concentrating on functions involving local state. A brief tour of structural operational semantics culminates in a structural definition of termination via an abstract machine using `frame stacks'. Applications of this to reasoning about contextual equivalence are given.

Citations

1182	A structural approach to operational semantics - Plotkin - 1981
573	The Definition of Standard ML (Revised - Milner, Tofte, et al. - 1997
488	A syntactic approach to type soundness - Wright, Felleisen - 1994
99	Operational reasoning for functions with local state - Pitts, Stark - 1998
73	Operationally-based theories of program equivalence - Pitts - 1997
71	Parametric polymorphism and operational equivalence - Pitts
46	The Functional Approach to Programming - Cousineau, Mauny - 1998
37	An interpretation of Standard ML in type theory - Harper, Stone - 1997
34	Lambda-definability and logical relations. Memorandum SAIRM-4 - Plotkin - 1973
33	Operational properties of Lily, a polymorphic linear lambda calculus with recursion - Bierman, Pitts, et al. - 2000
33	Relational interpretations of recursive types in an operational setting - Birkedal, Harper - 1999
33	Reasoning about local variables with operationally-based logical relations. LICS - Pitts - 1996
31	Kripke logical relations and PCF - O’Hearn, Riecke - 1995
31	Existential types: Logical relations and operational equivalence - Pitts - 1998
24	Monads, effects and transformations - Benton, Kennedy - 1999
22	Towards a theory of bisimulation for local names - Jeffrey, Rathke - 1999
5	Natural semantics, Rapport de Recherche 601 - Kahn - 1987
1	Program equivalence with private state - Aboul-Hosn, Hannan - 2002