Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the idea of controlling rewriting by strategies and we develop a strategy language whose operational semantics is also based on rewriting. This language is described in ELAN, a language based on computational systems that are simply rewriting theories controlled by strategies. We illustrate the syntax, semantics and different features of this strategy language. Finally, we sketch its bootstrapping implementation by a transformation into a computational system, whose heart is a rewrite theory controlled by a lower-level strategy of ELAN. 1 Introduction Elegance and expressiveness of rewriting as a computational paradigm are no more to be stressed. What might be less evident, is the weakness that comes from the absence of controlling mechanism over rewriting. In many existing term rewriting systems, the term reduction strategy is hard-wired and is not accessible to the designer of an application. The results of [KKV95a] and some experiences show that even f...

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